ABSTRACT
Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosisand Mycobacterium avium subsp. avium are antigenically and genetically very similar organisms; however, they differ markedly in their virulence for cattle. We evaluated the capacity of bovine macrophages infected with M. aviumsubsp. paratuberculosis or M. avium subsp.avium to express major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I and class II antigens on their surface and to interact with primed autologous lymphocytes. Our results indicate that infection of bovine macrophages with M. avium subsp.paratuberculosis promoted the downregulation of MHC class I and class II molecules on the macrophage surface within 24 and 12 h, respectively. Alternatively, MHC class II expression by M. avium subsp. avium-infected macrophages was not detected until 24 h after infection, and the magnitude of the decrease was smaller. Decreased MHC class I expression by M. avium subsp. avium-infected macrophages was not detected. Unlike M. avium subsp.paratuberculosis-infected macrophages, M. aviumsubsp. avium-infected macrophages upregulated MHC class I and class II expression after activation by gamma interferon or tumor necrosis factor alpha. Further, M. avium subsp.avium-infected macrophages were lysed by primed autologous lymphocytes, whereas M. avium subsp.paratuberculosis-infected macrophages were not. Overall, the results support the hypothesis that the difference in the virulence of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis andM. avium subsp. avium for cattle is dependent on a difference in the capacity of the organisms to suppress mycobacterial antigen presentation to T lymphocytes.
Identification of an HLA-DQ6-derived peptide recognized by mouse MHC class I H-2Db-restricted CD8+ T cells in HLA-DQ6 transgenic mice
