Figure 7.

Relevance of PI3K/Akt, MAPKs, and NF-κB signaling pathways on the expression of costimulatory molecules and cytokines by infected BMDCs. L. infantum parasites were incubated with BMDCs previously treated with specific inhibitors for Akt (wortmannin), p38 MAPK (SB203580), ERK1/2 (PD098059), SAPK/JNK (SP600125), or NF-κB (Bay 11-7082). The CD40, CD86, IL-12p40, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-10 mRNA levels were assessed by qPCR 4 hours postinfection. Gene expression is indicated as mean log₂ values of fold changes relative to L. infantum-infected cells. Each value represents the mean ± SD from three independent experiments. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001.