Leishmania major infection in mice primes for specific major histocompatibility complex class I‐restricted CD8+ cytotoxic T cell responses

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Abstract
This report shows that lymphoid tissues of mice which have resolved a primary infection with Leishmania major contain parasite‐specific major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I‐restricted cytolytic CD8+ T cell precusors that can be expanded after specific restimulation in vitro with syngeneic antigen‐presenting cells pulsed with a cyanogen bromide digest of L. major. In H‐2b mice, two distinct populations of CD8+ T cells were identified which both lysed target cells pulsed with L. major‐derived peptides but were restricted by a different H‐2b class I gene product. Interestingly, these two populations appear to recognize different parasite‐derived peptides. It is noteworthy that one K°‐restricted CD8+ T cell line was able to specifically lyse syngeneic macrophages infected with viable L. major, indicating that some L. major‐derived peptides may reach the MHC class I pathway of presentation from the phagolysosomal compartment where the parasites are confined in infected macrophages. The importance of these parasite‐specific MHC class I restricted cytolytic CD8+ T cells for the elimination of L. major by the infected host remains to be determined.