Activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt and impairment of nuclear factor-kappaB: molecular mechanisms behind the arrested maturation/activation state of Leishmania infantum-infected dendritic cells.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the complex interactions between Leishmania and dendritic cells (DCs) is central to the modulation of the outcome of this infection, given that an effective immune response against Leishmania is dependent on the successful activation and maturation of DCs. We report here that Leishmania infantum promastigotes successfully infect mouse bone marrow-derived DCs without triggering maturation, as shown by a failure in the up-regulation of CD40 and CD86 expression, and that parasites strongly counteract the lipopolysaccharide-triggered maturation of DCs. A small increase in interleukin (IL)-12 and IL-10 transcription and secretion and a decrease in IL-6 were observed in infected cells. This arrested DC maturation state is actively promoted by parasites because heat-killed or fixed

SUBMITTER: Neves BM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2993270 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature