Mycobacterium bovis-infected cervine alveolar macrophages secrete lymphoreactive lipid antigens.

Tuberculosis is caused by intracellular bacteria belonging to the genus Mycobacterium, including M. tuberculosis and M. bovis. Alveolar macrophages (AMs) are the primary host cell for inhaled mycobacteria. However, little is known about the mechanisms by which infected AMs can process and present mycobacterial antigens to primed lymphocytes and how these responses may affect ensuing protection in the host. In the present study, we sought to determine whether AMs from a naturally susceptible host for Mycobacterium bovis (red deer) could produce and secrete soluble immunoreactive antigens following mycobacterial infection in vitro. Confluent monolayers of deer AMs were infected with either heat-killed or live virulent M. bovis or M. bovis BCG at a multiplicity of infection of 5:1 and cultured for 48 h. Culture supernatants were collected, concentrated, and tested for the presence of mycobacterial antigens in a lymphocyte proliferation assay by using peripheral blood mononuclear cells from M. bovis-sensitized or naive deer. Supernatants derived from macrophages which had been infected with live bacilli stimulated the proliferation of antigen-sensitized, but not naive, lymphocytes. Supernatants derived from uninoculated AMs or AMs inoculated with heat-killed bacilli failed to stimulate lymphocyte proliferation. The lymphoproliferative activity was retained following lipid extraction of the supernatants, which were free of amino groups as determined by thin-layer chromatography. These results demonstrate that mycobacteria which are actively growing within AMs produce lipids which are secreted into the extracellular milieu and that these lipids are recognized by lymphocytes from mycobacterium-primed hosts. We suggest that mycobacterial lipids are released from AMs following aerosol infection in vivo and that they play an important role in the early immune response to tuberculosis.

An oral vaccine against NMDAR1 with efficacy in experimental stroke and epilepsy.

The brain is generally considered immunoprivileged, although increasing examples of immunological responses to brain antigens, neuronal expression of major histocompatibility class I genes, and neurological autoimmunity have been recognized. An adeno-associated virus (AAV) vaccine generated autoantibodies that targeted a specific brain protein, the NR1 subunit of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. After peroral administration of the AAV vaccine, transgene expression persisted for at least 5 months and was associated with a robust humoral response in the absence of a significant cell-mediated response. This single-dose vaccine was associated with strong anti-epileptic and neuroprotective activity in rats for both a kainate-induced seizure model and also a middle cerebral artery occlusion stroke model at 1 to 5 months following vaccination. Thus, a vaccination strategy targeting brain proteins is feasible and may have therapeutic potential for neurological disorders.