No abstract

In their mammalian hosts, Leishmania are obligate intracellular parasites that mainly reside in macrophages. They are also phagocytosed by dendritic cells (DCs), which play decisive roles in the induction and shaping of T cell-dependent immune responses. Little is known about the role of DCs in the Leishmania life cycle. Here, we examined the ability of mouse bone marrow-derived DCs to serve as hosts for L. amazonensis. Both infective stages of Leishmania (metacyclic promastigotes and amastigotes) could be phagocytosed by DCs, regardless of whether they had previously been experimentally opsonized with either the complement C3 component or specific antibodies. Parasites could survive and even multiply in these cells for at least 72 hours, within parasitophorous vacuoles displaying phagolysosomal characteristics and MHC class II and H-2M molecules. We then studied the degree of maturation reached by infected DCs according to the parasite stage internalised and the type of opsonin used. The cell surface expression of CD24, CD40, CD54, CD80, CD86, OX40L and MHC class II molecules was barely altered following infection with unopsonized promastigotes or amastigotes from nude mice or with C3-coated promastigotes. Even 69 hours post-phagocytosis, a large proportion of infected DCs remained phenotypically immature. In contrast, internalisation of antibody-opsonized promastigotes or amastigotes induced DCs to mature rapidly, as shown by the over-expression of costimulatory, adhesion and MHC class II molecules. Thus, in the absence of specific antibodies (e.g. shortly after infecting naive mammals), infected DCs may remain immature or semi-mature, meaning that they are unable to elicit an efficient anti-Leishmania T cell response. Absence of DC maturation or delayed/incomplete DC maturation could thus be beneficial for the parasites, allowing their establishment and amplification before the onset of immune responses.

Leishmania amastigotes are intracellular protozoan parasites of mononuclear phagocytes which reside within parasitophorous vacuoles of phagolysosomal origin. The pH of these compartments was studied with the aim of elucidating strategies used by these microorganisms to evade the microbicidal mechanisms of their host cells. For this purpose, rat bone marrow-derived macrophages were infected with L. amazonensis amastigotes. Intracellular acidic compartments were localized by using the weak base 3-(2,4-dinitroanilino)-3'-amino-N-methyldipropylamine as a probe. This indicator, which can be detected by light microscopy by using immunocytochemical methods, mainly accumulated in perinuclear lysosomes of uninfected cells, whereas in infected cells, it was essentially localized in parasitophorous vacuoles, which thus appeared acidified. Phagolysosomal pH was estimated quantitatively in living cells loaded with the pH-sensitive endocytic tracer fluoresceinated dextran. After a 15to 20-h exposure, the tracer was mainly detected in perinuclear lysosomes and parasitophorous vacuoles of uninfected and infected macrophages, respectively. Fluorescence intensities were determined from digitized video images of single cells after processing and automatic subtraction of background. We found statistically different mean pH values of 5.17 to 5.48 for lysosomes and 4.74 to 5.26 for parasitophorous vacuoles. As for lysosomes of monensin-treated cells, the pH gradient of parasitophorous vacuoles collapsed after monensin was added. This very likely indicates that these vacuoles maintain an acidic internal pH by an active process. These results show that L. amazonensis amastigotes are acidophilic and opportunistic organisms and suggest that these intracellular parasites have evolved means for survival under these harsh conditions and have acquired plasma membrane components compatible with the environment.

We have previously demonstrated that murine macrophages (Mphi) infected with Leishmania promastigotes, in contrast to Mphi infected with the amastigote stage of these parasites, are able to present the Leishmania antigen LACK (Leishmania homologue of receptors for activated C kinase) to specific, I-Ad-restricted T cell hybrids and to the T cell clone 9.1-2. These T cells react with the LACK (158-173) peptide, which is immunodominant in BALB/c mice. Here, we show that the level of stimulation of the LACK-specific T cell hybridoma OD12 by promastigote-infected Mphi is clearly dependent upon the differentiation state of the internalized parasites. Thus, shortly after infection with log-phase or stationary-phase promastigotes of L. major or of L. amazonensis, Mphi strongly activated OD12. The activity was transient and rapidly lost. However, under the same conditions, activation of OD12 by Mphi infected with metacyclic promastigotes of L. major or of L. amazonensis was barely detectable. At the extreme, Mphi infected with amastigotes were incapable to stimulate OD12. Thus, the presentation of LACK by infected Mphi correlates with the degree of virulence of the phagocytosed parasites, the less virulent being the best for the generation/expression of LACK (158-173)-I-Ad complexes. While the intracellular killing of the parasites appears to be an important condition for the presentation of LACK, it is not the only requisite. The partial or total destruction of intracellular L. amazonensis amastigotes does not allow the presentation of LACK to OD12. A preferential interaction of LACK (158-173) with recycling rather than newly synthesized MHC class II molecules does not explain the transient presentation of LACK by Mphi infected with log-phase or stationary-phase promastigotes because brefeldin A strongly inhibited the presentation of LACK to OD12. Taken together, these results suggest that virulent stages of Leishmania, namely metacyclics and amastigotes, have evolved strategies to avoid or minimize their recognition by CD4+ T lymphocytes.