Control of myeloid-derived suppressor cell dynamics potentiates vaccine protection in multiple mouse models of infection.

To date, there is no licensed vaccine against the protozoan parasite (, the etiological agent of Chagas Disease. has evolved numerous mechanisms to evade and manipulate the host immune system. Among the subversive strategies employed by the parasite, marked increases in CD11b+ Gr-1+ myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in several organs have been described.

The effects of dendritic cell-based vaccines in the tumor microenvironment: Impact on myeloid-derived suppressor cells.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are a heterogenous population of professional antigen presenting cells whose main role is diminished in a variety of malignancies, including cancer, leading to ineffective immune responses. Those mechanisms are inhibited due to the immunosuppressive conditions found in the tumor microenvironment (TME), where myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), a heterogeneous population of immature myeloid cells known to play a key role in tumor immunoevasion by inhibiting T-cell responses, are extremely accumulated. In addition, it has been demonstrated that MDSCs not only suppress DC functions, but also their maturation and development within the myeloid linage.

Human Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells Elicited Different Responses after Infection with Pathogenic and Nonpathogenic Junin Virus Strains.

The arenavirus Junin virus (JUNV) is the etiologic agent of Argentine hemorrhagic fever. We characterized the JUNV infection of human peripheral blood-derived plasmacytoid dendritic cells (hpDC), demonstrating that hpDC are susceptible to infection with the C#1 strain (attenuated) and even more susceptible to infection with the P (virulent) JUNV strain. However, hpDC elicited different responses in terms of viability, activation, maturation, and cytokine expression after infection with both JUNV strains.