Immunomodulatory potential of particular Trichinella spiralis muscle larvae excretory-secretory components.

Excretory-secretory antigens of Trichinella spiralis muscle larvae can induce the semi-matured status of rat dendritic cells. This may at least partly be the consequence of transient activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2). Here we investigated the potential of several components of excretory-secretory antigens (native fraction containing 45, 49 and 53kDa proteins and recombinant Tsp53, representing one of the constituents of this fraction) to demonstrate previously observed effects of excretory-secretory antigens on dendritic cells in vitro, characterised by establishment of a particular phenotype (very low MHC II expression, moderate CD86 expression and significant ICAM-1 expression) and functional properties (low production of pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-12p70, and high production of IL-10 and TGF-β). Dendritic cells activated by these components were able to provoke proliferation of naïve T cells and their polarisation towards Th2 and anti-inflammatory responses. The investigated antigens had almost the same capacity to induce IL-4 and IL-10 production from T cells as excretory-secretory antigens, but failed to induce significant TGF-β synthesis. It could be concluded that the investigated excretory-secretory antigens components can largely reproduce the immunomodulatory effects of the complete excretory-secretory antigens and therefore may be considered as molecules important for creation of the anti-inflammatory milieu achieved by the parasite. Copyright Â