CD8⁺ T cells in Trypanosoma cruzi infection

Trypanosoma cruzi infection and Chagas disease remains among the most neglected of the neglected tropical diseases. Despite this, studies of the immune response to T. cruzi have provided new insights in immunology and guidance for approaches for prevention and treatment of the disease. T. cruzi represents one of the very best systems in which to study CD8⁺ T cell biology; mice, dogs, and primates (and many other mammals) are all natural hosts for this parasite, the robust T cell responses generated in these hosts can be readily monitored using the full range of cutting edge techniques, and the parasite can be easily modified to express (or not) a variety of tags, reporters, immune enhances, and endogenous or model antigens. The infection in most hosts is characterized by vigorous and largely effective immune responses, including CD8⁺ T cells capable of controlling T. cruzi at the level of the infected host cells. However, this immune control is only partially effective and most hosts maintain a low level infection for life. This review addresses the interplay of highly effective CD8⁺ T cell responses with elaborate pathogen immune evasion mechanisms, including the generation and simultaneous expression of highly variant CD8⁺ T cell targets and a host cell invasion mechanisms that largely eludes innate immune detection.