FIG. 7.

Vaccine-induced protection is mediated by T lymphocytes but not B220⁺ B lymphocytes or antibody. CD3⁺ T or B220⁺ B lymphocytes (10⁷) or CD4⁺ or CD8⁺ T lymphocytes (5 × 10⁶) from spleens of mice vaccinated with rAls3p-N plus Al(OH)₃ or Al(OH)₃ alone were adoptively transferred i.v. via the tail vein to congenic, female BALB/c mice 24 h prior to infection (n = 16 per group from two experiments for CD3⁺ T-cell transfer; n = 8 mice per group for all others). Pooled sera (250 μl) from vaccinated or control donor mice were administered intraperitoneally 3 h before infection, with doses repeated weekly (n = 8 mice per group). Mice were infected with 3 × 10⁷ or 1.6 × 10⁷ S. aureus 67-0 cells. *, P ≤ 0.02 for the recipients of vaccine or control donor cells or serum by the log-rank test.