Figure 1.

96 BALB/c mice were challenged with MTB H37Rv at 0 days, divided into nine groups, and immunized respectively with PBS or ag85a/b chimeric DNA by IM or EP at 3, 17, and 31 days. All mice were killed at 48 or 49 days and extracted mouse peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) messenger RNA (mRNA) for gene microarray assay. Finally, the expression levels of three DE genes were verified in human PBMC mRNA by RT‐qPCR. DE, differentially expressed; EP, electroporation; IM, intramuscular injection; MTB, Mycobacterium tuberculosis; PBS, phosphate‐buffered saline; RT‐qPCR, real‐time reverse transcription‐quantitive polymerase chain reaction.