Toxoplasma gondii infection of neurons induces neuronal cytokine and chemokine production, but gamma interferon- and tumor necrosis factor-stimulatedneurons fail to inhibit the invasion and growth of T-gondii

The intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii has the capacity to persist in the brain within neurons. In this study we demonstrated that T. gondii inf ected murine cerebellar neurons in vitro and replicated within these cells. Stimulation with gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) and/or tumor necrosis factor (TNF) did not enable neurons to inhibit parasite invasion and replication. Cultured neurons constitutively produced interleukin I (IL-1), IL-6, macro phage inflammatory protein 1 alpha (MIP-1 alpha), and MIP-1 beta but not tr ansforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-beta1), IL-10, and granulocyte-macropha ge colony- stimulating factor. Neuronal expression of some cytokines (IL-6, TGF-beta1) and chemokines (MIP-1 beta) was regulated by infection and/or b y IFN-gamma and TNF.