Leishmania‐encoded orthologs of macrophage migration inhibitory factor regulate host immunity to promote parasite persistence

Leishmania major encodes 2 orthologs of the cytokine macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), whose functions in parasite growth or in the host-parasite interaction are unknown. To determine the importance of Leishmania-encoded MIF, both LmMIF genes were removed to produce an mif–/– strain of L. major. This mutant strain replicated normally in vitro but had a 2-fold increased susceptibility to clearance by macrophages. Mice infected with mif–/– L. major, when compared to the wild-type strain, also showed a 3-fold reduction in parasite burden. Microarray and functional analyses revealed a reduced ability of mif–/– L. major to activate antigen-presenting cells, resulting in a 2-fold reduction in T-cell priming. In addition, there was a reduction in inflammation and effector CD4 T-cell formation in mif–/– L. major-infected mice when compared to mice infected with wild-type L. major. Notably, effector CD4 T cells that developed during infection with mif–/– L. major demonstrated statistically significant differences in markers of functional exhaustion, including increased expression of IFN-γ and IL-7R, reduced expression of programmed death-1, and decreased apoptosis. These data support a role for LmMIF in promoting parasite persistence by manipulating the host response to increase the exhaustion and depletion of protective CD4 T cells.—Holowka, T., Castilho, T. M., Baeza Garcia, A., Sun, T., McMahon-Pratt, D., Bucala, R. Leishmania-encoded orthologs of macrophage migration inhibitory factor regulate host immunity to promote parasite persistence. FASEB J. 30, 2249–2265 (2016). www.fasebj.org