摘要

Unlike most pathogens, helminth parasites and their products induce strong Th2 responses, and dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages exposed to helminth antigens generally fail to produce interleukin-12. Rather, it has been shown that helminth products such as soluble egg antigens (SEA; a soluble extract from Schistosoma mansoni eggs) inhibit the activation of DCs in response to classical Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands such as lipopolysaccharide or CpG. Nevertheless, recent work has suggested that TLR4 and/or TLR2 plays an important role in the recognition of helminth products by DCs and macrophages and in the development of Th2 responses. Using DCs derived from TLR4(-/-), TLR2(-/-), or MyD88(-/-) mice, we have demonstrated that the ability of SEA to modulate DC activation is MyD88 independent and requires neither TLR4 nor TLR2. Moreover, TLR2 and TLR4 are not required for SEA-pulsed DCs to induce Th2 responses in naive mice.

  • 出版日期2008-12