Trypanosoma cruzi-specific CD8⁺ T cells and other immunological hallmarks in chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy: Two decades of research.

ABSTRACT: Trypanosoma cruzi, the causal agent of Chagas disease, has coexisted with humans for thousands of years. Therefore, the parasite has developed several mechanisms of antigenic variability that has allowed it to live inside the cells and evade the host immune response. Since T. cruzi displays an intracellular cycle-stage, our research team focused on providing insights into the CD8⁺ T cells immune response in chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy. We began our work in the 2000s studying parasite antigens that induce natural immune responses such as the KMP11 protein and TcTLE, its N-terminal derived peptide. Different approaches allowed us to reveal TcTLE peptide as a promiscuous CD8⁺ T cell epitope, able of inducing multifunctional cellular immune responses and e

SUBMITTER: Puerta CJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9846209 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature