FIG. 3.

CneF-injected sponges in mice immunized with the protective immunogen, CneF-CFA, contained significantly higher levels of IFN-γ mRNA and significantly higher concentrations of IFN-γ protein than CneF-injected sponges in mice immunized with the nonprotective immunogen, HKC-CFA. The experimental design was similar to that described in the Fig. 1 legend. (A) Sponges were removed 18 h after injection of antigen or saline, and RNA was extracted as described in Materials and Methods. The bars show the ratio of IFN-γ to L32 for the antigen-injected sponges. The error bars indicate the SEM. The solid horizontal line shows the mean ratio of IFN-γ to L32 for the saline control sponges, and the dotted lines indicate the SEM. (B) Sponges were removed 24 h after antigen or saline injection, and fluid was collected from each sponge for IFN-γ protein measurements by ELISA. The values shown are the mean values derived from each group by substracting the value of the saline-injected sponge from the value of the CneF-injected sponge for each mouse in the group and then calculating the mean. Where there are significant differences, horizontal bars indicate the groups compared. The P values are shown above the bars.