Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
2
pubmed:dateCreated
2002-3-6
pubmed:databankReference
pubmed:abstractText
During chronic filariasis, parasite-specific cellular responsiveness is profoundly down-regulated. Cystatins, a group of cysteine protease inhibitors, have been implicated in this suppressive activity. In an attempt to investigate the effects of cystatins in vivo, we isolated and expressed a 14 kDa protein of the rodent filaria Litomosoides sigmodontis with substantial homologies to cystatins from human pathogenic filariae. Cystatin was detected in antigen preparations of several developmental stages of L. sigmodontis, as well as in the supernatants of in vitro cultured adult worms. On closer examination, L. sigmodontis cystatin (Ls-Cystatin) migrated as two separate bands at 14 and 15 kDa. When cystatin was introduced into the peritoneal cavity of C57BL/6 mice via micro-osmotic pumps, the production of nitric oxide was profoundly reduced upon microfilarial challenge and, at the same time, synthesis of TNF-alpha mRNA became up-regulated. Furthermore, antigen-specific proliferative response of spleen cells to circulating L. sigmodontis microfilariae was significantly diminished in the presence of cystatin, whereas the antibody production was not suppressed. In vaccination trials, using the L. sigmodontis/BALB/c mouse model of filariasis, L. sigmodontis cystatin did not generate protective effects in terms of adult worm recovery, however, lower numbers of patent infections, i.e. less infections with microfilaraemia were observed in vaccinated animals. These results suggested that cystatin acts as an immunomodulatory molecule during the course of a filarial infection, and its neutralisation might contribute to generate protective immune responses.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Feb
pubmed:issn
0020-7519
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
32
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
171-8
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed-meshheading:11812494-Amino Acid Sequence, pubmed-meshheading:11812494-Animals, pubmed-meshheading:11812494-Antigens, Helminth, pubmed-meshheading:11812494-Base Sequence, pubmed-meshheading:11812494-Blotting, Western, pubmed-meshheading:11812494-Cystatins, pubmed-meshheading:11812494-Filariasis, pubmed-meshheading:11812494-Filarioidea, pubmed-meshheading:11812494-Immunization, pubmed-meshheading:11812494-Mice, pubmed-meshheading:11812494-Mice, Inbred BALB C, pubmed-meshheading:11812494-Mice, Inbred C57BL, pubmed-meshheading:11812494-Molecular Sequence Data, pubmed-meshheading:11812494-Nitric Oxide, pubmed-meshheading:11812494-Rats, pubmed-meshheading:11812494-Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, pubmed-meshheading:11812494-Sequence Analysis, DNA, pubmed-meshheading:11812494-Sequence Homology, Amino Acid, pubmed-meshheading:11812494-Sigmodontinae
pubmed:year
2002
pubmed:articleTitle
Litomosoides sigmodontis cystatin acts as an immunomodulator during experimental filariasis.
pubmed:affiliation
Institute for Tropical Medicine, University of Tubingen, Wilhelmstrasse 27, 72074, Tubingen, Germany. alexander.pfaff@medecine.u-strasbg.fr
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't