James L Kreindler, Chad Steele, Nikki Nguyen, Yvonne R Chan, Joseph M Pilewski, John F Alcorn, Yatin M Vyas, Shean J Aujla, Peter Finelli, Megan Blanchard, Steven F Zeigler, Alison Logar, Elizabeth Hartigan, Marcia Kurs-Lasky, Howard Rockette, Anuradha Ray, Jay K Kolls
Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) is caused by a dominant Th2 immune response to antigens derived from the opportunistic mold Aspergillus, most commonly Aspergillus fumigatus. It occurs in 4%-15% of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF); however, not all patients with CF infected with A. fumigatus develop ABPA. Therefore, we compared cohorts of A. fumigatus-colonized CF patients with and without ABPA to identify factors mediating tolerance versus sensitization. We found that the costimulatory molecule OX40 ligand (OX40L) was critical in driving Th2 responses to A...
September 2010: Journal of Clinical Investigation