Avaliação de mecanismos relacionados com a diferenciação de Células T CD8 de memória durante a infecção pelo vírus sincicial respiratório

Abstract

Introduction : Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a major cause of viral lower respiratory tract infection in children under two years of age. Memory CD8 T cell response to VSR does not provide an efficient and long-lasting immune response, so there are recurrent infections throughout life. The role of mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) and the purinergic receptor P2X7 in the memory CD8 T cell response during RSV infection has not been investigated. Objectives : To analize the effect of rapamycin on dendritic cells (DCs) during RSV infection, as well as to evaluate the role of P2X7 purinergic receptor in CD8 memory T cells response during RSV infection. Methodology : Bone marrow derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) differentiated from C57BL/6 P2X7-/- and C57BL/6 mice were infected with VSR virus and used to activate T cells purified from C57BL/6 P2X7-/- and C57BL/6 mice in vitro for 96 hours. In addition, BMDCs differentiated from C57BL/6 mice received 20ng/ml rapamycin during 1h prior infection. The following parameters were evaluated: BMDC cell death by apoptosis, memory cells markers by flow cytometry and RNA viral quantitation was performed by real time PCR. Results : Rapamycin treatment in RSV infected BMDCs decreases the frequency of CD8+CD44high cells and increases the level of viral RNA in DCs, but the rapamycin does not affect the viability of the infected dendritic cells. Furthermore, when BMDCs were treated with rapamycin, an increase of BMDC survival occurred, depending on the contact with the T cells. The absence of purinergic receptor P2X7 in T cells leads to a decrease in the frequency of CD8+CD122+KLRG1-, however the absence of purinergic receptor in infected BMDCs increases the frequency of CD8+CD122+ KLRG1- T cells. Conclusion : Our study suggests that P2X7 receptor is involved in memory CD8 T cell response. In addition our data indicated that mTOR inhibition increases the survival of BMDCs in a mechanism dependent on T-cell contact and also suggests that rapamycin treatment on dendritic cells during VSR infection affect CD8 T cell differentiation.