T cell-intrinsic MyD88 signaling in cognate immune response to intracellular parasite infection: crucial role for IL-18R

We compared gene expression between WT CD4+ (CD45.1) and Myd88-/- CD4+ (CD45.2) T cells from the spleen of infected mix bone marrow chimeras at day 14 of T. cruzi infection. The hypothesis studied in this experiment was that MyD88-/- CD4+ cells have suppressed Th1 differentiation potencial when compared to WT CD4+ T cells. The results indicate that CD4+ T cell-intrinsic MyD88 signaling is necessary for sustaining a more robust Th1 differentiation program and increased expansion among WT CD4+ T cells, resultant of relative higher proliferation and lower apoptosis Total RNA obtained from isolated CD4+ T cells from the spleen of infected mix bone marrow chimeras at day 14 of T. cruzi infection.