Immunization with excretory‐secretory molecules of intestinal nematodes induces antigen‐specific protective memory Th2 cell responses

Abstract

AbstractParasitic nematodes infect more than 1 billion people in the global south. The development of effective antihelminthic vaccines is a crucial tool for their future elimination. Protective immune responses to nematodes depend on Gata3+ Th2 cells, which can also be induced by nematode‐released products. Whether these nematode products induce antigen‐specific long‐lived memory T cells and thereby confer protection against a challenge infection is not known yet. Hence, we set out to characterize the formation of memory Th2 cells induced by immunization with Heligmosomoides polygyrus excretory‐secretory (HES) products, infection‐induced versus immunization‐induced recall responses to a challenge infection, and whether HES‐induced memory T cells show protective properties following adoptive transfer. Our results show that 8 weeks postimmunization, HES induces long‐lived functional memory Th2 cells at the site of immunization in the peritoneal cavity. Following a H. polygyrus challenge infection, HES‐immunized mice display MHC‐II‐dependent antigen‐specific Th2 cytokine responses in the gut‐draining lymph nodes, comparable to those induced by a prior natural infection. Moreover, adoptive transfer of sorted memory CD4+ T cells from HES‐immunized donors reduces female worm fecundity following a challenge H. polygyrus infection in recipient mice, highlighting a protective role for immunization‐induced memory T cells.