956 resultados para CD4 T cells


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Activated T helper (Th) cells have ability to differentiate into functionally distinct Th1, Th2 and Th17 subsets through a series of overlapping networks that include signaling and transcriptional control and the epigenetic mechanisms to direct immune responses. However, inappropriate execution in the differentiation process and abnormal function of these Th cells can lead to the development of several immune mediated diseases. Therefore, the thesis aimed at identifying genes and gene regulatory mechanisms responsible for Th17 differentiation and to study epigenetic changes associated with early stage of Th1/Th2 cell differentiation. Genome wide transcriptional profiling during early stages of human Th17 cell differentiation demonstrated differential regulation of several novel and currently known genes associated with Th17 differentiation. Selected candidate genes were further validated at protein level and their specificity for Th17 as compared to other T helper subsets was analyzed. Moreover, combination of RNA interference-mediated downregulation of gene expression, genome-wide transcriptome profiling and chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by massive parallel sequencing (ChIP-seq), combined with computational data integration lead to the identification of direct and indirect target genes of STAT3, which is a pivotal upstream transcription factor for Th17 cell polarization. Results indicated that STAT3 directly regulates the expression of several genes that are known to play a role in activation, differentiation, proliferation, and survival of Th17 cells. These results provide a basis for constructing a network regulating gene expression during early human Th17 differentiation. Th1 and Th2 lineage specific enhancers were identified from genome-wide maps of histone modifications generated from the cells differentiating towards Th1 and Th2 lineages at 72h. Further analysis of lineage-specific enhancers revealed known and novel transcription factors that potentially control lineage-specific gene expression. Finally, we found an overlap of a subset of enhancers with SNPs associated with autoimmune diseases through GWASs suggesting a potential role for enhancer elements in the disease development. In conclusion, the results obtained have extended our knowledge of Th differentiation and provided new mechanistic insights into dysregulation of Th cell differentiation in human immune mediated diseases.

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Dysregulation of the skin immune system (SIS) could explain the high prevalence of skin disorders in HIV+ individuals. The present study was carried out to determine whether alterations in the cell population of SIS and epidermal immunoactivation occur in the normal skin of HIV+ individuals. Forty-five biopsies were taken from the normal upper arm skin of 45 HIV+ patients and of 15 healthy controls. HIV+ individuals were divided into three categories according to their CD4 cell blood count (<200, 200-499 and 500/l). Hematoxylin-eosin was used to stain tissue sections for morphological analysis and immunohistochemistry was used for the evaluation of the frequency of macrophages, Langerhans cells, and CD lymphocyte subsets. In addition, semiquantitative analysis of LFA-1, ICAM-1 and HLA-DR was determined in epidermal cells. Macrophages, Langerhans cells, and CD lymphocyte subsets did not differ significantly between any of the patient categories and the control group. When all HIV+ individuals were compared as a group to the control group, a significant increase in dermal CD8+ T lymphocytes (P < 0.01) and lower CD4-CD8 ratios (P < 0.01) were observed in the HIV+ individuals. Epidermal ICAM-1 and HLA-DR expression was negative in both HIV+ and normal skin biopsies. No evidence of a depletion of the SIS population or of epidermal immunoactivation in normal skin from HIV+ individuals was demonstrable, suggesting that alterations in the central immune system are not necessarily reflected in the SIS of HIV-infected patients.

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The signaling lymphocytic activation molecule (SLAM), present on the surface of hematopoietic cells, can regulate some events of the immune responses. This modulatory action is associated with the capacity of SLAM to interact with an intracytoplasmic adapter, such as SLAM-associated protein (SAP). SLAM is constitutively expressed in most of these cells, is rapidly induced after antigenic or inflammatory stimuli, and participates in the immunological synapse. Defects in the function of the SLAM-SAP pathway contribute to immunological abnormalities, resulting in autoimmune diseases, tumors of the lymphoid tissues and inadequate responses to infectious agents. Initially, the role of SLAM was investigated using an anti-SLAM monoclonal antibody (&#945;-SLAM mAb) identified as an agonist of the SLAM-SAP pathway, which could induce the production of interferon-&#947; and could redirect the immune response to a T helper 1 (Th1) cell profile. However, in this review we postulate that the SLAM-SAP pathway primarily induces a Th2 response and secondarily suppresses the Th1 response.

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Thymosin alpha 1 (T&#945;1) has been shown to have beneficial effects on numerous immune system parameters, but little is known about the effects of T&#945;1 on patients with gastric carcinoma. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of T&#945;1 on subpopulations of Th1, Th2, Th17, and regulatory T cells (Tregs) in vitro, and to evaluate its efficacy as an immunoregulatory factor in patients with gastric carcinoma. We compared the effect of T&#945;1 on the frequency of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, especially the CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from gastric carcinoma patients (N = 35) and healthy donors (N = 22). We also analyzed the changes in the proliferation of PBMCs in response to treatment with T&#945;1, and examined the production of Th1, Th2, and Th17 cytokines by PBMCs and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. The treatment of PBMCs from gastric cancer patients, with T&#945;1 (50 g/mL) alone increased the percentage of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ (suppressive antitumor-specific Tregs) from 1.68 0.697 to 2.19 0.795% (P < 0.05). Our results indicate that T&#945;1 increases the percentage of Tregs and IL-1&#946;, TNF-&#945;, and IL-6 in vitro.

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The participation of regulatory T (Treg) cells in B cell-induced T cell tolerance has been claimed in different models. In skin grafts, naive B cells were shown to induce graft tolerance. However, neither the contribution of Treg cells to B cell-induced skin tolerance nor their contribution to the histopathological diagnosis of graft acceptance has been addressed. Here, using male C57BL/6 naive B cells to tolerize female animals, we show that skin graft tolerance is dependent on CD25+ Treg cell activity and independent of B cell-derived IL-10. In fact, B cells from IL-10-deficient mice were able to induce skin graft tolerance while Treg depletion of the host inhibited 100% graft survival. We questioned how Treg cell-mediated tolerance would impact on histopathology. B cell-tolerized skin grafts showed pathological scores as high as a rejected skin from naive, non-tolerized mice due to loss of skin appendages, reduced keratinization and mononuclear cell infiltrate. However, in tolerized mice, 40% of graft infiltrating CD4+ cells were FoxP3+ Treg cells with a high Treg:Teff (effector T cell) ratio (6:1) as compared to non-tolerized mice where Tregs comprise less than 8% of total infiltrating CD4 cells with a Treg:Teff ratio below 1:1. These results render Treg cells an obligatory target for histopathological studies on tissue rejection that may help to diagnose and predict the outcome of a transplanted organ.

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Although they are considered as antigen presenting cells (APC), the role of antigen-unspecific B-lymphocytes in antigen presentation and T lymphocyte stimulation remains controversial. In this paper, we tested the capacity of normal human peripheral activated B cells to stimulate T cells using melanoma antigens or melanoma cell lysates. B lymphocytes activated through CD40 ligation and then pulsed with tumor antigens efficiently processed and presented MHC class II restricted peptides to specific CD4+ T cell clones. This suggests that CD40-activated B cells have the functional and molecular competence to present MHC class II epitopes when pulsed with exogenous antigens, thereby making them a relevant source of APC to generate T cells. To test this hypothesis, CD40-activated B cells were pulsed with a lysate prepared from melanoma cells and used to stimulate peripheral autologous T cells. Interestingly, T cells specific to melanoma antigens were generated. Further analysis of these T cell clones revealed that they recognized MHC class II restricted epitopes from tyrosinase, a known melanoma tumor antigen. The efficient antigen presentation by antigen-unspecific activated B cells was correlated with a down-regulation in the expression of HLA-DO, a B cell specific protein known to interfere with HLA-DM function. Because HLA-DM is important in MHC class II peptide loading, the observed decrease in HLA-DO may partially explain the enhanced antigen presentation following B-cell activation. Results globally suggest that when they are properly activated, antigen-unspecific B-lymphocytes can present exogenous antigens by MHC class II molecules and stimulate peripheral antigen-specific T cells. Antigen presentation by activated B cells could be exploited for immunotherapy by allowing the in vitro generation of T cells specific against antigens expressed by tumors or viruses.

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Affiliation: Dpartement de microbiologie et immunologie, Facult de mdecine, Universit de Montral & Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montral

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BACKGROUND: HIV-1 Vpu targets newly synthesized CD4 receptor for rapid degradation by a process reminiscent of endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated protein degradation (ERAD). Vpu is thought to act as an adaptor protein, connecting CD4 to the ubiquitin (Ub)-proteasome degradative system through an interaction with beta-TrCP, a component of the SCFbeta-TrCP E3 Ub ligase complex. RESULTS: Here, we provide direct evidence indicating that Vpu promotes trans-ubiquitination of CD4 through recruitment of SCFbeta-TrCP in human cells. To examine whether Ub conjugation occurs on the cytosolic tail of CD4, we substituted all four Ub acceptor lysine residues for arginines. Replacement of cytosolic lysine residues reduced but did not prevent Vpu-mediated CD4 degradation and ubiquitination, suggesting that Vpu-mediated CD4 degradation is not entirely dependent on the ubiquitination of cytosolic lysines and as such might also involve ubiquitination of other sites. Cell fractionation studies revealed that Vpu enhanced the levels of ubiquitinated forms of CD4 detected in association with not only the ER membrane but also the cytosol. Interestingly, significant amounts of membrane-associated ubiquitinated CD4 appeared to be fully dislocated since they could be recovered following sodium carbonate salt treatment. Finally, expression of a transdominant negative mutant of the AAA ATPase Cdc48/p97 involved in the extraction of ERAD substrates from the ER membrane inhibited Vpu-mediated CD4 degradation. CONCLUSION: Taken together, these results are consistent with a model whereby HIV-1 Vpu targets CD4 for degradation by an ERAD-like process involving most likely poly-ubiquitination of the CD4 cytosolic tail by SCFbeta-TrCP prior to dislocation of receptor molecules across the ER membrane by a process that depends on the AAA ATPase Cdc48/p97.

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Le VIH-1 a dvelopp plusieurs mcanismes menant la dgradation de son rcepteur cellulaire, la molcule CD4, dans le but daugmenter la relche de particules virales infectieuses et dviter que la cellule soit surinfecte. Lun de ces mcanismes est la dgradation, induite par la protine virale Vpu, du CD4 nouvellement synthtis au niveau du rticulum endoplasmique (RE). Vpu doit lier CD4 et recruter lubiquitine ligase cellulaire SCF-TrCP, via sa liaison -TrCP, afin de dgrader CD4. Puisque CD4 doit tre retenu au RE pour permettre Vpu dinduire sa dgradation via le systme ubiquitine-protasome, il a t suggr que ce processus implique un mcanisme semblable une voie cellulaire de dgradation des protines mal-replies appele ERAD ( endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation ). La dgradation par ERAD implique gnralement la dislocation des protines du RE vers le cytoplasme afin de permettre leur poly-ubiquitination et leur dgradation par le protasome. Nous avons dmontr que Vpu induit la poly-ubiquitination de CD4 dans des cellules humaines. Nos rsultats suggrent aussi que CD4 doit subir une dislocation afin dtre dgrad par le protasome en prsence de Vpu. De plus, un mutant transdominant ngatif de lATPase p97, qui est implique dans la dislocation des substrats ERAD, inhibe compltement la dgradation de CD4 par Vpu. Enfin, nos rsultats ont montr que lubiquitination sur des rsidus accepteurs de lubiquitine (lysines) de la queue cytoplasmique de CD4 ntait pas essentielle, mais que la mutation des lysines ralentit le processus de dgradation de CD4. Ce rsultat suggre que lubiquitination de la queue cytosolique de CD4 pourrait reprsenter un vnement important dans le processus de dgradation induit par Vpu. Lattachement de lubiquitine a gnralement lieu sur les lysines de la protine cible. Toutefois, lubiquitination sur des rsidus non-lysine (srine, thronine et cystine) a aussi t dmontre. Nous avons dmontr que la mutation de tous les sites potentiels dubiquitination cytoplasmiques de CD4 (K, C, S et T) inhibe la dgradation par Vpu. De plus, la prsence de cystines dans la queue cytoplasmique apparat suffisante pour rendre CD4 sensible Vpu en absence de lysine, srine et thronine. Afin dexpliquer ces rsultats, nous proposons un modle dans lequel lubiquitination de la queue cytosolique de CD4 serait ncessaire sa dgradation et o les sites dubiquitination de CD4 seraient slectionns de faon non spcifique par lubiquitine ligase recrute par Vpu. Enfin, nous avons observ que la co-expression dune protine Vpu incapable de recruter -TrCP (Vpu S52,56/D) semble stabiliser le CD4 qui est retenu au RE. De plus, dautres mutants de Vpu qui semblent capables de recruter -TrCP et CD4 sont toutefois incapables dinduire sa dgradation. Ces rsultats suggrent que lassociation de Vpu CD4 et -TrCP est essentielle mais pas suffisante pour induire la dgradation de CD4. Par consquent, ces rsultats soulvent la possibilit que Vpu puisse recruter dautres facteurs cellulaires pour induire la dgradation de CD4. Les rsultats prsents ont permis de mieux dfinir le mcanisme de dgradation de CD4 par Vpu dans des cellules humaines. De plus, ces rsultats nous ont permis dlaborer un modle dans lequel lubiquitine ligase cellulaire SCF-TrCP dmontre de la flexibilit dans le choix des rsidus ubiquitiner afin dinduire la dgradation de CD4. Enfin, ces tudes jettent un oeil nouveau sur le rle de Vpu dans ce processus puisque nos rsultats suggrent que Vpu doive recruter dautres partenaires cellulaires, mis part -TrCP, pour induire la dgradation de CD4.

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Le diabte auto-immun rsulte de la destruction des cellules bta pancratiques scrtrices dinsuline par les lymphocytes T du systme immunitaire. Il sensuit une dficience hormonale qui peut tre comble par des injections quotidiennes dinsuline dorigine exogne, toutefois il demeure ce jour impossible de gurir les patients atteints de la maladie. De faon gnrale, un systme immunitaire sain reconnat une multitude dantignes diffrents et assure ainsi notre dfense lgard de diffrents pathognes ou encore de cellules tumorales. Il arrive cependant que, pour des raisons gntiques et/ou environnementales, les lymphocytes T puissent sactiver de faon aberrante suite la reconnaissance dantignes provenant du soi. Cest ce bris de tolrance qui mne au dveloppement de pathologies auto-immunes telles que le diabte auto-immun. Afin de limiter lauto-immunit, des mcanismes de slection stricts permettent dliminer la majorit des lymphocytes T prsentant une forte affinit envers des antignes du soi lors de leur dveloppement dans le thymus. Certains de ces lymphocytes russissent toutefois chapper lapoptose et migrent en priphrie afin dy circuler en qute dun antigne spcifiquement reconnu. Il est alors primordial que des mcanismes priphriques assurent le maintien de la tolrance immunitaire en faisant obstacle lactivation et la prolifration des lymphocytes T auto-ractifs. Lune des avenues afin dinhiber le dveloppement de rponses immunitaires aberrantes est la gnration de lymphocytes T rgulateurs. Ces cellules, dorigine thymique ou priphrique, peuvent arborer diffrents phnotypes et agissent via de multiples mcanismes afin dinactiver et/ou liminer les cellules impliques dans lapparition de pathologies auto-immunes. Lutilisation de modles murins transgniques a permis la mise en vidence dune population peu caractrise de lymphocytes T au potentiel rgulateur. En effet, la proportion de ces cellules T nexprimant pas les corcepteurs CD4 et CD8 (double ngatives, DN) a t inversement corrle la prdisposition lauto-immunit chez ces ii souris. Lobjectif principal de cette thse est de dmontrer la fonction immuno-rgulatrice des lymphocytes T DN, tout en investiguant les facteurs gntiques responsables du maintien de cette population cellulaire. Nous avons observ que les lymphocytes T DN exercent une activit cytotoxique lgard des lymphocytes B de faon spcifique lantigne, via la libration de granules cytolytiques contenant du granzyme B et de la perforine. Par ailleurs, nous avons tabli quun unique transfert adoptif de ces cellules est suffisant afin dinhiber le dveloppement du diabte auto-immun chez des htes transgniques prdisposs la maladie. Le recours des souris dficientes pour lexpression du gne CD47 a permis de constater que la voie de signalisation CD47-Sirp est essentielle dans le maintien de la proportion des lymphocytes T DN. De plus, le locus murin de prdisposition au diabte auto-immun Idd13, qui contient le gne Sirp, a t identifi pour son rle dans la rgulation de la proportion de ces cellules. Finalement, une analyse gntique a rvl que dautres intervalles gntiques sont impliqus dans le contrle de la population des lymphocytes T DN. Parmi ceux-ci, un locus situ en rgion proximale du chromosome 12 a t valid grce la cration de souris congniques. Grce aux rsultats prsents dans cette thse, notre comprhension de la biologie ainsi que de la rgulation des lymphocytes T DN est approfondie. Ces connaissances constituent un pas important vers la cration de thrapies cellulaires novatrices permettant de prvenir et de gurir diverses pathologies auto-immunes.

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Une petite population de lymphocytes T exprimant les deux corcepteurs CD4 et CD8 et appele double positive (DP), a t dtecte dans le sang priphrique de donneurs sains et de patients atteints de diverses pathologies dont la sclrose en plaques (SEP). Nous avons mis lhypothse quil sagissait de lymphocytes T hautement activs pouvant contribuer linflammation chronique prsente dans la SEP. Nous avons compar les cellules T DP obtenues du sang de donneurs sains et de patients atteints de la SEP et non traits. La frquence des cellules DP tait similaire chez les patients et les donneurs sains. La proportion de lymphocytes T DP qui exprimaient les chaines du rcepteur de linterleukine-15 (IL-15) tait plus leve que pour les autres populations lymphocytaires. Des mesures dinduction de la phosphorylation du STAT5 (signal transducer and activator of transcription) ont dmontr que les cellules DP ont rpondu des doses plus faibles et pour de plus longues priodes lIL-15 comparativement aux autres lymphocytes T. Le pourcentage de lymphocytes T DP ayant la capacit de produire linterfron-gamma et des enzymes lytiques tait lev chez les tmoins sains mais ces niveaux taient significativement rduits chez les patients atteints de la SEP. La caractrisation phnotypique de cellules DP a suggr que ces cellules ont des proprits similaires aux lymphocytes T activs. Bien quil ne sagisse que dune caractrisation partielle, il semble que les lymphocytes T DP perdent une partie de leurs proprits chez les patients atteints de la SEP.

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HIV attachment via the CD4 receptor is an important target for developing novel approaches to HIV chemotherapy. Cyclotriazadisulfonamide (CADA) inhibits HIV at submicromolar levels by specifically down-modulating cell-surface and intracellular CD4. An effective five-step synthesis of CADA in 30% overall yield is reported. This synthesis has also been modified to produce more than 50 analogues. Many tail-group analogues have been made by removing the benzyl tail of CADA and replacing it with various alkyl, acyl, alkoxycarbonyl and aminocarbonyl substituents. A series of sidearm analogues, including two unsymmetrical compounds, have also been prepared by modifying the CADA synthesis, replacing the toluenesulfonyl sidearms with other sulfonyl groups. Testing 30 of these compounds in MT-4 cells shows a wide range of CD4 down-modulation potency, which correlates with ability to inhibit HIV-1. Three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D-QSAR) models were constructed using comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) approaches. The X-ray crystal structures of four compounds, including CADA, show the same major conformation of the central 12-membered ring. The solid-state structure of CADA was energy minimized and used to generate the remaining 29 structures, which were similarly minimized and aligned to produce the 3D-QSAR models. Both models indicate that steric bulk of the tail group, and, to a lesser extent, the sidearms mainly determine CD4 down-modulation potency in this series of compounds.

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Spleen or spleen plus bone marrow cells from (BALB/c x C57Bl/6)F1 donors were transferred into BALB/c recipients 21 days before skin or cardiac transplantation. Prolonged graft survival was observed on recipients treated with the mixture of donor-derived cells as compared to those treated with spleen cells alone. We evaluated the expression of CD45RB and CD44 by splenic CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells 7 and 21 days after donor cell transfer. The populations of CD8(+)CD45RB(low) and CD8(+)CD44(high) cells were significantly decreased in mice pre-treated with donor spleen and bone marrow cells as compared to animals treated with spleen cells only, although these cells expanded in both groups when compared to an earlier time-point. No differences were observed regarding CD4+ T cell population when recipients of donor-derived cells were compared. An enhanced production of IL-10 was observed seven days after transplantation in the supernatants of spleen cell cultures of mice treated with spleen and bone marrow cells. Taken together these data suggest that donor-derived bone marrow cells modulate the sensitization of the recipient by semi-allogeneic spleen cells in part by delaying the generation of activated/memory CD8(+) T cells leading to enhanced graft survival. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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To study the role of TLR2 in a experimental model of chronic pulmonary infection, TLR2-deficient and wild-type mice were intratracheally infected with Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, a primary fungal pathogen. Compared with control, TLR2(-/-) mice developed a less severe pulmonary infection and decreased NO synthesis. Equivalent results were detected with in vitro-infected macrophages. Unexpectedly, despite the differences in fungal loads both mouse strains showed equivalent survival times and severe pulmonary inflammatory reactions. Studies on lung-infiltrating leukocytes of TLR2(-/-) mice demonstrated an increased presence of polymorphonuclear neutrophils that control fungal loads but were associated with diminished numbers of activated CD4(+) and CD8(+) T lymphocytes. TLR2 deficiency leads to minor differences in the levels of pulmonary type 1 and type 2 cytokines, but results in increased production of KC, a CXC chemokine involved in neutrophils chemotaxis, as well as TGF-beta, IL-6, IL-23, and IL-17 skewing T cell immunity to a Th17 pattern. In addition, the preferential Th17 immunity of TLR2(-/-) mice was associated with impaired expansion of regulatory CD4(+)CD25(+)FoxP3(+) T cells. This is the first study to show that TLR2 activation controls innate and adaptive immunity to P. brasiliensis infection. TLR2 deficiency results in increased Th17 immunity associated with diminished expansion of regulatory T cells and increased lung pathology due to unrestrained inflammatory reactions. The Journal of Immunology, 2009, 183: 1279-1290.

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Sialostatin L (SialoL) is a secreted cysteine protease inhibitor identified in the salivary glands of the Lyme disease vector Ixodes scapularis. In this study, we reveal the mechanisms of SialoL immunomodulatory actions on the vertebrate host. LPS-induced maturation of dendritic cells from C57BL/6 mice was significantly reduced in the presence of SialoL. Although OVA degradation was not affected by the presence of SialoL in dendritic cell cultures, cathepsin S activity was partially inhibited, leading to an accumulation of a 10-kDa invariant chain intermediate in these cells. As a consequence, in vitro Ag-specific CD4(+) T cell proliferation was inhibited in a time-dependent manner by SialoL, and further studies engaging cathepsin S(-/-) or cathepsin L(-/-) dendritic cells confirmed that the immunomodulatory actions of SialoL are mediated by inhibition of cathepsin S. Moreover, mice treated with SialoL displayed decreased early T cell expansion and recall response upon antigenic stimulation. Finally, SialoL administration during the immunization phase of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in mice significantly prevented disease symptoms, which was associated with impaired IFN-gamma and IL-17 production and specific T cell proliferation. These results illuminate the dual mechanism by which a human disease vector protein modulates vertebrate host immunity and reveals its potential in prevention of an autoimmune disease. The Journal of Immunology, 2009, 182: 7422-7429.