Journal article
The Contribution of Non-Conventional T Cells and NK Cells in the Mycobacterial-Specific IFN gamma Response in Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG)-Immunized Infants
Christel Zufferey, Susie Germano, Binita Dutta, Nicole Ritz, Nigel Curtis
PLOS ONE | PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE | Published : 2013
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The Mycobacterium bovis Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine is given to >120 million infants each year worldwide. Most studies investigating the immune response to BCG have focused on adaptive immunity. However the importance of TCR-gamma/delta (γδ) T cells and NK cells in the mycobacterial-specific immune response is of increasing interest. METHODS: Participants in four age-groups were BCG-immunized. Ten weeks later, in vitro BCG-stimulated blood was analyzed for NK and T cell markers, and intracellular IFNgamma (IFNγ) by flow cytometry. Total functional IFNγ response was calculated using integrated median fluorescence intensity (iMFI). RESULTS: In infants and children, CD4 an..
View full abstractGrants
Awarded by Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
Funding Acknowledgements
This study was supported by a project grant from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC grant no. 546,486), and by grants from the John Burge Trust, the Myer Foundation, the Aranday Foundation, and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (http://www.mcri.edu.au). NR was supported by Fellowship awards from the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (http://www.espid.org) and scholarships from The University of Melbourne. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.