CD95 signaling is not required for the down regulation of cellular responses to systemic Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection

Abstract 

There is a tendency among tuberculosis patients to have reduced cellular responses to mycobacterial antigens and this loss has been associated with apoptosis of CD4 T cells. In order to determine the role of CD95 in mediating apoptosis of antigen-specific lymphocytes in tuberculosis, mice with a mutated CD95L molecule were infected systemically with virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Both control and CD95L mutant mice exhibited the expected loss of response to mycobacterial antigens, with the only difference being a slight delay in the loss of the response in the mutant mice. The limited persistence of the response in the mutant mice suggests that, while antigen-specific cellular responses do decline in mice infected with mycobacteria, this decline is not dependent upon CD95L.

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• f1 Correspondence to: Andrea M. Cooper, Department of Microbiology, Colorado State University, 200 West Lake, Fort Collins, Colorado 80525, USA. Tel.: +970 491 2833; Fax: +970 491 1815; E-mail: acooper@cvmbs.colostate.edu