%A Tacchini-Cottier,Fabienne
%A Weinkopff,Tiffany
%A Launois,Pascal
%D 2012
%J Frontiers in Immunology
%C
%F
%G English
%K IL-17,Leishmania,Leishmania major,T helper cells,Th1,Th17,th2,Treg
%Q
%R 10.3389/fimmu.2012.00032
%W
%L
%M
%P
%7
%8 2012-February-27
%9 Review
%+ Prof Fabienne Tacchini-Cottier,University of Lausanne,Department of Biochemistry, WHO Immunology Training and Research Center,155, ch des Boveresses,Epalinges,1066,Vaud,Switzerland,Fabienne.Tacchini-Cottier@unil.ch
%#
%! T helper differentiation and protective immunity against L. major in mice
%*
%<
%T Does T Helper Differentiation Correlate with Resistance or Susceptibility to Infection with L. major? Some Insights From the Murine Model
%U https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2012.00032
%V 3
%0 JOURNAL ARTICLE
%@ 1664-3224
%X The murine model of Leishmania major infection has been an invaluable tool in understanding T helper differentiation in vivo. The initial evidence for a role of distinct CD4+ T helper subsets in the outcome of infection was first obtained with this experimental model. The development of CD4+ Th1 cells was associated with resolution of the lesion, control of parasite replication, and resistance to re-infection in most of the mouse strains investigated (i.e., C57BL/6). In contrast, differentiation of CD4+ Th2 cells correlated with the development of unhealing lesions, and failure to control parasite load in a few strains (i.e., BALB/c). Since these first reports, an incredible amount of effort has been devoted to understanding the various parameters involved in the differentiation of these, and more recently discovered T helper subsets such as Th17 and T regulatory cells. The discovery of cross-talk between T helper subsets, as well as their plasticity force us to reevaluate the events driving a protective/deleterious T helper immune response following infection with L. major in mice. In this review, we describe the individual contributions of each of these CD4+ T helper subsets following L. major inoculation, emphasizing recent advances in the field, such as the impact of different substrains of L. major on the pathogenesis of disease.