Monocyte-derived dendritic cells from patients with dermatophytosis restrict the growth of Trichophyton rubrum and induce CD4-T cell activation

PLoS One. 2014 Nov 5;9(11):e110879. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0110879. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Dermatophytes are the most common agents of superficial mycoses that are caused by mold fungi. Trichophyton rubrum is the most common pathogen causing dermatophytosis. The immunology of dermatophytosis is currently poorly understood. Recently, our group investigated the interaction of T. rubrum conidia with peritoneal mouse macrophages. We found that macrophages phagocytose T. rubrum conidia resulted in a down-modulation of class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigens and in the expression of co-stimulatory molecules. Furthermore, it induced the production of IL-10, and T. rubrum conidia differentiated into hyphae that grew and killed the macrophages after 8 hrs of culture. This work demonstrated that dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages, from patients or normal individuals, avidly interact with pathogenic fungus T. rubrum. The dermatophyte has two major receptors on human monocyte-derived DC: DC-SIGN and mannose receptor. In contrast macrophage has only mannose receptor that participates in the phagocytosis or bound process. Another striking aspect of this study is that unlike macrophages that permit rapid growth of T. rubrum, human DC inhibited the growth and induces Th activation. The ability of DC from patients to interact and kill T. rubrum and to present Ags to T cells suggests that DC may play an important role in the host response to T. rubrum infection by coordinating the development of cellular immune response.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Animals
  • CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / immunology*
  • CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / metabolism
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Cytokines / metabolism
  • Dendritic Cells / immunology*
  • Dendritic Cells / metabolism
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Lymphocyte Activation / immunology
  • Macrophages / immunology
  • Macrophages / metabolism
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Middle Aged
  • Tinea / immunology*
  • Tinea / metabolism
  • Tinea / microbiology
  • Trichophyton / immunology*

Substances

  • Cytokines

Grants and funding

The work was supported by grants from the following: Fundação de Aparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) and Concelho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.