Bacterial pathogens induce abscess formation by CD4(+) T-cell activation via the CD28-B7-2 costimulatory pathway.

Abscesses are a classic host response to infection by many pathogenic bacteria. The immunopathogenesis of this tissue response to infection has not been fully elucidated. Previous studies have suggested that T cells are involved in the pathologic process, but the role of these cells remains unclear. To delineate the mechanism by which T cells mediate abscess formation associated with intra-abdominal sepsis, the role of T-cell activation and the contribution of antigen-presenting cells via CD28-B7 costimulation were investigated. T cells activated in vitro by zwitterionic bacterial polysaccharides (Zps) known to induce abscess formation required CD28-B7 costimulation and, when adoptively transferred to the peritoneal cavity of naïve rats, promoted abscess formation. Blockade of T-cell activation via the CD28-B7 pathway in animals with CTLA4Ig prevented abscess formation following challenge with different bacterial pathogens, including Staphylococcus aureus, Bacteroides fragilis, and a combination of Enterococcus faecium and Bacteroides distasonis. In contrast, these animals had an increased abscess rate following in vivo T-cell activation via CD28 signaling. Abscess formation in vivo and T-cell activation in vitro required costimulation by B7-2 but not B7-1. These results demonstrate that abscess formation by pathogenic bacteria is under the control of a common effector mechanism that requires T-cell activation via the CD28-B7-2 pathway.