FIG. 7.

In vitro priming of naive syngeneic CD4⁺ T cells by R. conorii-infected BMDCs. BMDCs of C3H and B6 mice were infected with R. conorii and cocultured with naïve syngeneic CD4⁺ T cells as described in Materials and Methods. (A) On day 5 of coculture, the frequencies of IFN-γ- and IL-4-producing CD3⁺ CD4⁺ T cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. (B) The levels (in pg/ml) of antigen-dependent cytokine induction in culture supernatants were assayed by ELISA. Antigen-dependent or LPS- induced cytokine induction was considered as the level of cytokine detected in coculture of T cells with R. conorii-infected or LPS-treated BMDCs, from which was subtracted the level of the same cytokine in coculture of T cells incubated with uninfected BMDCs. Samples were performed in triplicate. Data are representative of two independent experiments.