Fig. 5.

ΔdblGATA mice show impaired acquired protection against intestinal helminths due to basophil anomaly. (A−D) WT and Δdbl BALB/c mice were infected twice with N. brasiliensis larvae, and on day 2 of the second infection, their spleen and skin of larva inoculation site were isolated, and subjected to numerical counts of basophils in the spleen (A), indicated cell types accumulating in the skin (B, Upper and Lower), and skin-trapped worms (D). M2-Mac, M2-type macrophage. In C, basophils were sorted from the skin preparation and subjected to RT-PCR analysis for Il4 expression. (E) WT and Δdbl mice were infected once with N. brasiliensis larvae, and basophils were sorted from their bone marrow cells on day 18 of infection. These N. brasiliensis-sensitized basophils isolated from WT or Δdbl mice were intraperitoneally transferred into Δdbl mice (4 × 10⁴ cells per mouse) that had been infected with larvae 18 d before. On the day of cell transfer, the recipient mice were subjected to the second infection, and 2 d later, the skin of the larva inoculation site was isolated, and subjected to a numerical count of larvae. In parallel, twice-infected Δdbl mice without basophil transfer (−) were analyzed as control. Data shown are the mean ± SEM (n = 3 or 4 each), and representative of three independent experiments. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001.