Background
Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by
Plasmodium that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female
Anopheles mosquitoes. In 2019, there were an estimated 229 million cases of malaria worldwide. The estimated number of malaria deaths stood at 409,000 in 2019 [
1]. Artemisinin has now become the world’s most effective drug for fighting malaria. Recently, there was a resurgence of malaria, partly as a result of increased resistance to artemisinin [
2,
3]. To date, no vaccine has been shown to provide long-lasting benefits at a population level [
4‐
7]. So, there is still a long way to go to achieve the goal of malaria elimination.
Besides respiratory and metabolic function, lung plays a role in immune system. It contains heterogeneous populations of innate and adaptive immune cells, such as T helper cells, macrophages, natural killer cells, gamma delta T cells (γδT cells), and others [
8‐
10]. Malaria-associated acute lung injury (ALI)/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is one of the main clinical complications of severe
Plasmodium infection, which is one of the main causes of death [
11‐
14]. However, the detailed mechanism of malaria-induced lung injury is unclear. Various immune cells are reported to participate in the process of malaria-associated ALI and ARDS in mice. For example, parasite-specific CD8
+ T cells promote pulmonary vascular leakage and pulmonary edema [
15,
16]. The B cells can protect the host from adverse lung pathological damage by secreting the IgA [
17].
γδT cells represent a minor population of innate lymphocytes that can respond to the antigen without presentation [
18]. γδT cells have multiple functions, producing different types of cytokines and chemokines, regulating the immune response by interacting with other cells [
19]. The study of γδT cells in malaria was first published nearly 30 years ago [
20], and recent findings showed that γδT cells play an important role in the protective immune response against
Plasmodium [
21]. Further evidence demonstrates that γδT cells are expanded in spleen, peripheral blood, lung, and liver of mice infected with different strains of
Plasmodium [
22‐
25]. γδT cells can regulate the anti-malaria immune response by interacting with other cells. For example, they can stimulate and recruit myeloid cells, promote the differentiation of CD4
+ and CD8
+ T cells by producing cytokines, like IFN-γ and TNF, and chemokines upon recognizing the soluble antigens released from parasites [
22,
26‐
28]. There is an increasing body of evidence to support the fact that γδ T cells could modulate humoral immunity against
Plasmodium berghei infection [
29]. γδT cells were reported to involve in the pulmonary immunopathological injury caused by pathogenic organisms. For example, γδT cells could mediate influenza A (H1N1) induced lung injury by secreting interleukin-17A in mice [
30]. γδT cells were found to mainly regulate the Th2 immune response in the lung of the mice infected with
Schistosoma japonicum [
31]. However, the potential roles of γδT cells during
Plasmodium infection in the lungs C57BL/6 mice remains unclear. This research try to study the phenotype and function of γδT cells in the lung of C57BL/6 mice infected by
Plasmodium, as well as the effects of γδT cells on T cells and B cells after
Plasmodium infection.
Methods
Mice
Wild-type female C57BL/6 mice (6–8 weeks) were obtained from Animal Centre of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine (Guangzhou, China). γδT KO mice (B6.129P2-Tcrdtm1Mom/J, C57BL/6J genetic background) were acquired from JAX Stock (No. 002120). All protocols for animal use were approved to be appropriate and humane by the institutional animal care and use committee of Guangzhou Medical University (2012-11).
Parasites and infection
The NSM strain of Plasmodium yoelii was purchased from the malaria research and reference reagent resource center (MR4). Frozen P. yoelii were thawed and maintained into C57BL/6 mice until the parasitaemia up to 10–15%. 6–8 weeks female C57BL/6 mice or γδT KO mice were infected with 1 × 106 infected red blood cells (iRBCs) by intraperitoneal injection.
Isolation of lymphocyte
Mice were euthanized at 11 days post-infection. Before obtaining the lung tissue, mice were perfused with sterile saline to remove the blood. The excised lung tissue was cut into small pieces and incubated in 5 ml of digestion buffer (collagenase IV/DNase I mix, Invitrogen Corporation) for 30 min at 37 °C. Digested lung tissue was pressed through a 200-gauge stainless-steel mesh and was then suspended in Hank’s balanced salt solution (HBSS). Lymphocytes were isolated using mouse lymphocyte separation medium (Dakewe Biotech) and density gradient centrifugation. The isolated cells were washed twice in HBSS and resuspended in complete RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 10% heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum, 100 U/ml penicillin, 100 µg/ml streptomycin. After the lymphocytes were isolated, the cells were calculated by the blood cell counting plate with trypan blue staining.
Antibodies
A detailed description of antibodies used in this study is provided in Table
1.
Table 1
Antibodies used in the study
Anti-mouse CD3 APC-cy7 (clone 145-2C11) | Biolegend | Cat. # 100330 |
Anti-mouse CD8 APC-cy7 (clone 54 − 6.7) | Biolegend | Cat. # 100714 |
Anti-mouse CD3 FITC (clone 145-2C11) | BD PharMingen | Cat. # 553062 |
Anti-mouse γδ TCR FITC (clone GL3) | BD PharMingen | Cat. # 553177 |
Anti-mouse CD19 Percp-cy5.5 (clone 6D6) | Biolegend | Cat. # 115534 |
Anti-mouse CD4 Percp-cy5.5 (clone GK1.5) | Biolegend | Cat. # 100434 |
Anti-mouse CD62L APC (clone MEL-14) | Biolegend | Cat. # 104411 |
Anti-mouse CD34 APC (clone MEC14.7) | Biolegend | Cat. # 119309 |
Anti-mouse CD11b PE-cy7 (clone M1/70) | Biolegend | Cat. # 101216 |
Anti-mouse PD-1 PE-cy7 (clone 29F.1A12) | Biolegend | Cat. # 135216 |
Anti-mouse CD80 PE (clone 16-10A1) | Biolegend | Cat. # 104708 |
Anti-mouse CD127 PE (clone ATR34) | Biolegend | Cat. # 135009 |
Anti-mouse PD-L1 Brilliant Violet 421 (clone 10F.6G2) | Biolegend | Cat. # 124315 |
Anti-mouse ICOS PE-cy7 (clone C398.4A) | Biolegend | Cat. # 3,153,520 |
Anti-mouse IFN-γ APC (clone XMG1.2) | BD PharMingen | Cat. # 554,413 |
Anti-mouse IL-17 APC (clone TC11-18H10.1) | BD PharMingen | Cat. # 506,916 |
Anti-mouse IL-21 APC (clone FFA21) | invitrogen | Cat. # 17-7211-82 |
Anti-mouse IL-5 APC (clone TRFK5) | Biolegend | Cat. # 504306 |
Anti-mouse IL-6 APC (clone MP5-20F3) | BD PharMingen | Cat. # 581367 |
Anti-mouse IL-4 PE (clone 11B11) | Biolegend | Cat. # 504104 |
Anti-mouse IL-17 PE (clone TC11-18H10) | BD PharMingen | Cat. # 559502 |
Anti-mouse IL-10 PE (clone JES5-16E3) | Biolegend | Cat. # 505008 |
Anti-mouse IL-2 PE (clone JES6-5H4) | Biolegend | Cat. # 503808 |
Anti-mouse IL-1α PE (clone ALF-161) | Biolegend | Cat. # 503203 |
Anti-mouse CD69 Brilliant Violet 421 (clone H12F3) | BD PharMingen | Cat. # 562920 |
Anti-mouse CD25 PE (clone BC96) | Biolegend | Cat. # 302606 |
TruStain FcX™ anti-mouse CD16/32 (Fc Block) (clone 93) | Biolegend | Cat. # 101320 |
APC Armenian Hamster IgG Isotype Ctrl Antibody (clone HTK888) | Biolegend | Cat. # 400911 |
Brilliant Violet 421 Armenian Hamster IgG Isotype Ctrl Antibody (clone HTK888) | Biolegend | Cat. # 400935 |
PE Armenian Hamster IgG Isotype Ctrl Antibody (clone HTK888) | Biolegend | Cat. # 400907 |
PE/Cy7 Armenian Hamster IgG Isotype Ctrl Antibody (clone HTK888) | Biolegend | Cat. # 400921 |
Histology studies
Lungs were removed from mice and perfused three times with 0.01 M PBS (pH 7.4), fixed in 10% formalin, embedded in paraffin, and sectioned. The slice was stained by standard haematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, and examined by light microscopy (Olympus ix71).
Cell surface staining
Cells were washed twice with PBS and blocked in PBS buffer containing 1% BSA for 30 min. Cells were then stained with specific antibodies for the cell surface antigens for 30 min at 4 °C in the dark. The phenotypes (1 × 106 cells per run) were analysed using flow cytometry (Beckman CytoFLEX) and CytExpert 1.1 (Beckman Coulter Inc.). The single nuclear cells were gated to exclude the dead cells and doublet. For gating CD3+ γδTCR+ cells, CD3+, CD3+ CD4+, CD3+ CD8+, CD3− CD19+ cells, fluorescence minus one (FMO) controls were used. For other surface makers, isotype controls were used. 1,000,000 cells were used for cell surface staining, and 300,000 events were collected for each tube.
Cell intracellular cytokine staining
1.5 × 106 cells were resuspended in complete RPMI 1640 medium, then stimulated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) (20 ng/ml, Sigma) and ionomycin (1 µg/ml, Sigma) for 1 h. Brefeldin A (BFA, 10 µg/ml, Sigma) was added and incubated for 4 h. Cells were washed twice in PBS and stained with specific antibodies for the cell surface antigens for 30 min at 4 °C in the dark. Cells were fixed with Fixation and Permeabilization Solution (BD Biosciences) for 20 min at 4 °C in the dark. Next, cells were stained with specific antibodies for each cytokine. The results were analysed using flow cytometry (Beckman CytoFLEX) and CytExpert 1.1 (Beckman Coulter Inc.). The single nuclear cells were gated to exclude the dead cells and doublet. For gating CD3+ γδTCR+ cells, CD3+, CD3+ CD4+, CD3+ CD8+, CD3− CD19+ cells, FMO controls were used. Isotype controls were used for intracellular cytokines staining. 1,500,000 cells were used for cell intracellular cytokine staining, and 300,000 events were collected for each tube.
Statistics
The differences between the two groups were analysed in Prism (GraphPad Software) using a two-tailed Student’s t-test with equal variance and normal distributions. To compare more than two groups, one-way ANOVA and LSD test by SPSS software package were used with equal variance and normal distributions. Mann-Whitney U test was used with unequal variance or abnormal distributions. The statistical significance was defined as p < 0.05.
Discussion
γδT cells comprise a small population of T cells (3–5%) [
32]. In this study, the characteristics of γδT cells from the lungs of
P. yoelii infected C57BL/6 mice were explored. The percentage and the absolute number of γδT cells were significantly increased (Fig.
1) in the lungs of
P. yoelii infected C57Bl/6 mice at 11 days post-infection. Similarly, Mamedov et al. also reported γδT cells are expanded in the lungs of
Plasmodium chabaudi infected C57Bl/6 mice at 16 days post-infection when parasite recrudescence reached a peak in the mice whose γδT cells were silenced [
22]. These results indicated that γδT cells accumulate in the lung and may play a role in the process of host anti-
Plasmodium infection.
To study the potential role of CD3
+ γδTCR
+ cells after infection, the phenotype of γδT cells was examined. CD127, CD34 and CD62L are T cell activation-associated molecules [
33‐
35]. CD34 serves as a ligand for CD62L, CD34 and CD62L primarily regulates the proliferation and migration of leukocytes to inflammatory sites and lymph nodes [
33,
34]. The percentages of CD62L
+, CD127
+, and CD34
+ γδT cells decreased significantly in the infected group (
p < 0.05). PD-1 acts as an inhibitory receptor, which could reduce T cell receptor (TCR) induced cell proliferation, cytokine production, and cytolytic activity [
36]. MHC II, CD80, and CD11b are the surface markers of antigen-presenting cells, which could accelerate T-cell activation [
37,
38]. More γδT cells were expressing CD80, CD11b and PD-1 post-infection (
p < 0.05). While the percentages of MHC II
+ and PD-L1
+ γδT cells did not significantly change post-infection (
p > 0.05). These results further confirm that γδT cells could regulate the inflammation response in the lung of
P. yoelii infected mice, and γδT cells may be beneficial for antigen presentation in the lung of infected mice.
It is reported that γδT cells could secrete numerous cytokines to mediate the immune response [
19]. In this study, the results showed more γδT cells secrete Th2 cytokines (IL-4, IL-5), IL -6, IL -21, IL -1α, IL -17, and fewer γδT cells secrete IFN-γ in response to
Plasmodium infection. It implied that the Th2 immune response is promoted by increased IL-4 and IL-5 secreted from γδT cells. As a pro-inflammatory cytokine, IL-17 extensively participated in host antimicrobial immunity [
39‐
41]. It is commonly accepted that IL-17 is predominately produced by γδT cells upon
Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection [
42]. IL-21 is a pleiotropic cytokine, which is related to autoimmune diseases, allergies, and inflammatory diseases. It can enhance the body’s adaptive immune response and innate immune response [
43]. IL-1α and IL-6 are required for Th17 lymphocyte differentiation upon host infected with
Paracoccidioides brasiliensis [
44]. In this study, the percentage of IL-6, IL-21, IL-1α, IL-17 γδT cells increased significantly after infection (
p < 0.05). These data indicated that γδT cells could promote host immune response in anti-
P. yoelii infection.
To explore the role of γδT cells in
Plasmodium infection-induced lung injury, γδT KO mice were infected with
P. yoelii. γδT cells, one functional group of cells, has some effects on phenotypes and cytokine-producing abilities of T and B cells. For example, the percentages of CD69
+ CD3
+ T cells, IFN-γ- expressing T cells, IL-17 expressing CD3
+ T cells, ICOS
+ B cells decreased in γδT KO mice in the absence of malaria infection (
p < 0.05) (Figs.
6,
7,
8 and
9). Even so, the γδT KO mice are still the best model to study the role of γδT cells. There was no obvious difference in the lung between the WT and γδT KO mice in either the uninfected or the infected group (Fig.
4). One potential reason for this phenomenon may be the lower percentage of γδT cells in the lung. Although it plays a certain role in anti-
P. yoelii infection, the deletion of γδ TCR is not enough to alter the pathological damage of the lung. T cell response was studied in the
P. yoelii-infected WT and γδT KO mice. T cell-mediated immunity is the key for the host to defense against malaria parasite infection [
45]. Parasite-specific CD8
+ T cells participate in the process of malaria-associated ALI and ARDS by promoting pulmonary vascular leakage and pulmonary oedema [
15,
16]. There was no significant difference for the proportion and absolute numbers of T cells between uninfected WT mice and the uninfected γδT KO mice (
p > 0.05). However, the proportion of CD3
+ cells and the absolute numbers of CD3
+ cells, CD3
+ CD4
+ cells, CD3
+ CD8
+ cells were decreased in γδT KO infected mice compared with the WT infected mice (
p < 0.05). These results indicated that γδT cells could promote the recruitment of T cells upon
P. yoelii infection. The possible reason maybe the secretion of chemokines by γδT cells, like M-CSF. It is commonly accepted that the chemokine system plays critical role in the recruitment of lymphocytes [
22,
46].
The deficiency in γδT cells did not make a significant difference on the surface molecular expression of T cells for the infected mice (
p > 0.05), suggesting that γδT cells were not associated with the activation of T cells. IFN-γ is the central molecule in mediating host protective immune responses against malaria parasites [
47]. The percentage of IFN-γ- expressing CD3
+ and CD3
+ CD8
+ cells increased in γδT KO infected mice compared with the WT infected mice (
p < 0.05). These results indicated that γδT cells could suppress the production of IFN-γ in CD3
+ and CD3
+ CD8
+ cells upon
P. yoelii infection. Taken together, γδT cells played double effects on T cells, especially CD3
+ CD8
+ cells, mediated anti-malarial response in the lung.
Additionally, B cell response was also investigated, the absolute number of B cells was not affected by γδ TCR knockout. The B cells expressed ICOS could induce regulatory T cells [
48]. Many types of antigen-presenting cells can express CD80 [
49] and the expression of CD80 in B cells plays a critical role in regulating B-T interactions in both early and late germinal center responses [
50]. Although the percentages of ICOS and CD80-expressing B cells differed in infected γδT KO mice compared with the infected WT mice (
p < 0.05). The absolute numbers of ICOS
+, CD69
+, and CD80
+ B cells were not significantly changed in the infected γδT KO mice compared with the infected WT mice (
p > 0.05). It is suggested that γδT cells may not contribute to the proliferation and phenotype changes of B cells upon
P. yoelii infection.
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