Figure 2. Non-redundant role of Tc17 cells in anti-fungal vaccine immunity.

Mice were vaccinated with 10⁵ yeast of Blastomyces vaccine strain #55 subcutaneously (s.c.) and boosted once after 2 weeks. Two to three weeks later, mice were challenged intratracheally (i.t.) and lungs were harvested to enumerate CFUs. CD4⁺ T cells were depleted with GK1.5 mAb given i.v. weekly. A. Mice were given neutralizing anti-IL-17A mAb or rat IgG as control (100 µg each, i.v.) on days 0, 2 & 4 post-challenge. On day 6, lungs were analyzed for CFU. CFUs are from 8–14 mice/group. B. On day −3 and −1, mice were given 2–4×10⁹ pfu i.v. of recombinant adenovirus secreting mouse IL-17 receptor or control adenovirus expressing luciferase (AdLuc); a third dose was given on day 0 of challenge with virulent Blastomyces (i.t.). 10 days after challenge, lungs were harvested for CFU. CFUs are for 13–19 mice/group. C. IL-17RA^−/− and WT mice were infected i.t. with a lethal dose of WT Blastomyces yeast. 10 days later, lung CFU were enumerated. CFUs are from 10–14 mice/group from two independent experiments. D. IL-17A^−/− and WT mice were lethally challenged i.t. with WT Blastomyces yeast. 13 days later, lung CFU were enumerated. CFUs are from 9–19 mice/group. In panels A–D, CFUs are shown in box and whisker plots. *, p<0.05; **, p<0.01; ***, p<0.001; and ****, p<0.0001.