ABSTRACT
Tumor necrosis factor receptor p55 (TNFRp55) mediates host resistance to several pathogens by allowing microbicidal activities of phagocytes. In the studies reported here, TNFRp55−/− mice infected with the intracellular parasite Trypanosoma cruzishowed clearly higher parasitemia and cumulative mortality than wild-type (WT) controls did. However, gamma interferon (IFN-γ)-activated macrophages from TNFRp55−/− mice produced control levels of nitric oxide and killed the parasite efficiently in vitro. Trypanocidal mechanisms of nonphagocytic cells (myocardial fibroblasts) from both TNFRp55−/− and WT mice were also activated by IFN-γ in a dose-dependent way. However, IFN-γ-activated TNFRp55−/− nonphagocytes showed less effective killing of T. cruzi than WT control nonphagocytes, even when interleukin 1β (IL-1β) was added as a costimulator. In vivo, T. cruzi-infected TNFRp55−/− mice and WT mice released similar levels of NO and showed similar levels of IFN-γ mRNA and inducible nitric oxide synthase mRNA in their tissues. Instead, increased susceptibility toT. cruzi of TNFRp55−/− mice was associated with reduced levels of parasite-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) (but not IgM) antibodies during infection, which is probably linked to abnormal B-cell differentiation in secondary lymphoid tissues of the mutant mice. Surprisingly, T. cruzi-infected TNFRp55−/− mice showed increased inflammatory and necrotic lesions in several tissues, especially in skeletal muscles, indicating that TNFRp55 plays an important role in controlling the inflammatory process. Accordingly, levels of Mn2+superoxide dismutase mRNA, a TNF-induced enzyme which protects the cell from the toxic effects of superoxide, were lower in mutant than in WT infected mice.
Induction of nitric oxid synthase(NOS) by soluble glucocorticoid induced tumor necrosis factor receptor(sGITR) is modulated by IFN-γ in murine macrophage
