Acanthamoeba culbertsoni Elicits Soluble Factors That Exert Anti-Microglial Cell Activity

作者：Harrison Jenica L; Ferreira Gabriela A; Raborn Erinn S; Lafrenaye Audrey D; Marciano Cabral Francine; Cabral Guy A^*

来源：Infection and Immunity, 2010, 78(9): 4001-4011.

DOI：10.1128/IAI.00047-10

Acanthamoeba culbertsoni is an opportunistic pathogen that causes granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE), a chronic and often fatal disease of the central nervous system (CNS). A hallmark of GAE is the formation of granulomas around the amoebae. These cellular aggregates consist of microglia, macrophages, lymphocytes, and neutrophils, which produce a myriad of proinflammatory soluble factors. In the present study, it is demonstrated that A. culbertsoni secretes serine peptidases that degrade chemokines and cytokines produced by a mouse microglial cell line (BV-2 cells). Furthermore, soluble factors present in cocultures of A. culbertsoni and BV-2 cells, as well as in cocultures of A. culbertsoni and primary neonatal rat cerebral cortex microglia, induced apoptosis of these macrophage-like cells. Collectively, the results indicate that A. culbertsoni can apply a multiplicity of cell contact-independent modes to target macrophage-like cells that exert anti-amoeba activities in the CNS.

• 出版日期2010-9