Costimulation in resistance to infection and development of immune pathology: lessons from toxoplasma.

Parasitic infections remain an important cause of disease worldwide, and it is important to understand how the immune system protects against these organisms. In addition, the study of how the immune system deals with different types of pathogens provides the opportunity to discern how innate and adaptive arms of the immune system interact to provide an integrated protective response. Costimulatory signals are an important element involved in the control of lymphocyte response, and this laboratory studies the role of the costimulatory molecules CD28 and ICOS in the events that lead to resistance to the opportunistic pathogen Toxoplasma gondii as well as the development of immune pathology associated with this infection.