FIG. 1.
Expression of active LmaMPK7 reduces L. major virulence. (A) FACS analysis. Promastigotes were cultured in the presence of 100 μg/ml G418 (+G418) (top and bottom) or maintained in culture for 15 passages without drug (−G418) (middle), and GFP fluorescence intensities in live cells were measured by flow cytometry. (B) Footpad analysis. A total of 3 × 105 metacyclic control parasites transfected with the vector alone (control) (•) and transgenic parasites expressing GFP-LmaMPK10 (GFPK10) (□), GFP-LmaMPK7 (GFPK7) (⋄), and two GFP-LmaMPK7 kinase-dead mutants (GFPK7_TXY [▿] and GFPK7_K [▵]) were inoculated into the hind footpad of female BALB/c mice, and lesion formation was monitored by measuring the increase in footpad size. Groups of five mice were analyzed, and standard deviations are indicated by bars. Two independent tests were performed, and data from one representative experiment are shown.