Research Projects

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), caused by Leishmania donovani (LD), is the second most deadly parasitic disease globally after malaria. The disease progression is attributed to profound immunosuppression, which is still unclear. Dendritic cells (DCs) are crucial in initiating antileishmanial immune responses, and LD may induce immunosuppression by inhibiting DCs. However, the role of LD in promoting or inhibiting DCs and the mechanism through which LD mediates this immunoregulatory effect on DCs remains unclear. A recent study showed that IL-35, an immunosuppressive cytokine, is produced by T cells during LD infection and favors disease progression. However, the role of DC-derived IL-35 in suppressing DCs, T cells, and antileishmanial immunity remains unexplored. The current study aims to investigate whether LD induces IL-35 expression in DCs, how LD mediates this regulatory effect, and whether DC-derived IL-35 has any role in inducing IL-35 expression within T cells in LD-infected mice.