FIG. 2.

Injection of DC transduced with a recombinant adenovirus expressing HCV CE1 proteins impairs CD4⁺-T-cell responses. Groups of three BALB/c mice were immunized intraperitoneally with 2 × 10⁵ DC transduced with AdCE1 (DC-CE1) or AdNS3 (DC-NS3). Ten to fourteen days later the animals were sacrificed, and spleen cells were pooled and stimulated with different antigens. (A) IFN-γ production by splenocytes stimulated with heat-inactivated adenoviral particles. The symbols on the left side of the graph correspond to IFN-γ production in the absence of adenoviral particles. The results are representative of three different experiments. (B) IFN-γ production after stimulation with 1 μg of transgene protein HCV core or NS3/ml. (C) CD69 expression on CD4⁺ T cells after stimulation with adenoviral antigens.