FIG. 7.

IFN-γ secretion by spleen cells from BALB/c mice immunized with different plasmids or recombinant antigens of L. (V.) braziliensis upon in vitro restimulation with the respective recombinant proteins. BALB/c mice were immunized with three doses of plasmids containing the indicated genes (B) or pcDNA3 (A). Alternatively, BALB/c mice were immunized with three doses of the indicated recombinant proteins (D) or alum plus CpG ODN (C). Two weeks after the last immunizing dose, spleen cells of each individual mouse were stimulated in vitro with 10 μg of recombinant protein/ml. The concentration of IFN-γ was estimated in cell culture supernatants. The results are expressed as average of three mice ± the SD. This experiment was reproduced twice with identical results. Asterisks denote statistically significant differences from values in the supernatants of spleen cells cultured in the absence of the recombinant protein (P < 0.05, one-way analysis of variance).