Robust T cell responses to aspergillosis in chronic granulomatous disease: Implications for immunotherapy

C. R.Y. Cruz, S. Lam, P. J. Hanley, A. S. Bear, C. Langston, A. J. Cohen, H. Liu, C. A. Martinez, R. A. Krance, H. E. Heslop, C. M. Rooney, I. C. Hanson, C. M. Bollard

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Summary: Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) patients are highly susceptible to invasive aspergillosis and might benefit from aspergillus-specific T cell immunotherapy, which has shown promise in treating those with known T cell defects such as haematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients. But whether such T cell defects contribute to increased risks for aspergillus infection in CGD is unclear. Hence, we set out to characterize the aspergillus-specific T cell response in CGD. In murine CGD models and in patients with CGD we showed that the CD4+ T cell responses to aspergillus were unimpaired: aspergillus-specific T cell frequencies were even elevated in CGD mice (P<0·01) and humans (P=0·02), compared to their healthy counterparts. CD4-depleted murine models suggested that the role of T cells might be redundant because resistance to aspergillus infection was conserved in CD4+ T cell-depleted mice, similar to wild-type animals. In contrast, mice depleted of neutrophils alone or neutrophils and CD4+ T cells developed clinical and pathological evidence of pulmonary aspergillosis and increased mortality (P<0·05 compared to non-depleted animals). Our findings that T cells in CGD have a robust aspergillus CD4+ T cell response suggest that CD4+ T cell-based immunotherapy for this disease is unlikely to be beneficial.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)89-96
Number of pages8
JournalClinical and Experimental Immunology
Volume174
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2013

Keywords

  • Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD)
  • T cells
  • Therapy/immunotherapy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Immunology
  • Immunology and Allergy

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