FIG. 1.

CneF-injected sponges in mice immunized with the protective immunogen, CneF-CFA, contained significantly higher numbers of leukocytes (A), activated CD4⁺ T cells (B), macrophages (C), and neutrophils (D) than CneF-injected sponges in mice immunized with the nonprotective immunogen, HKC-CFA. On day 0, mice were immunized with CneF-CFA (protective immunogen), saline-CFA (control immunogen), or HKC-CFA (nonprotective immunogen). Two sponges were implanted s.c. into the back of each mouse on day 3. On day 7, one sponge was injected with saline and the other was injected with CneF. Sponge cells were recovered 24 h after injection, and the total number of viable leukocytes per sponge (A) was determined by hemacytometer counts using trypan blue dye exclusion. The number of activated CD4⁺ T cells (B) was determined by flow cytometric analysis, and the numbers of macrophages (C) and neutrophils (D) were determined by differential counts. The data shown were derived by subtracting the number of cells in the saline-injected sponge from the number of cells in the CneF-injected sponge for each animal and calculating the mean of the difference in cells and the SEM for each group of mice. Data from two independent experiments were combined, with three mice per group per experiment. Where there are significant differences, the bars indicate the groups compared. P values are shown above the bars.