Downregulation of IRF7-mediated type-I interferon response by LmCen^-/- parasites is necessary for protective immunity.

ABSTRACT: Leishmaniasis is a tropical disease caused by Leishmania parasites and currently has no licensed vaccines. We developed a dermotropic Leishmania major centrin gene-deleted strain (LmCen^-/-) as a live attenuated vaccine. Recent studies have shown that type I interferons (IFNs) play important roles in immunity to parasitic and viral pathogens. However, their relevance in protective immunity following vaccination is not understood. We found that immunization with LmCen^-/- induces a transient increase in type I IFN response along with its regulatory factor IRF7 that is downregulated 7-21 days post-immunization, coincided with the induction of a robust Th1 adaptive immune response. Challenge infection with virulent L. donovani parasites showed a significant reduction of sp

SUBMITTER: Sepahpour T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11659581 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature