FIG 5.

Exposure of monocytes to B. anthracis capsule during differentiation alters the resulting iDCs' cytokine response to Ba PGN. Human monocytes were differentiated into iDCs in the presence of 500 μg/ml capsule or capA mutant preparation for 7 days. Control cells were differentiated in parallel in the absence of capsule. On day 7, the treated and naive control cells were stimulated with 1 μg/ml Ba PGN. Additional control cells were maintained unstimulated. On day 9, the media were analyzed for cytokines. Several donors exhibited decreased release of IL-6 (A), IL-10 (B), IL-1β (C), TNF-α (D), IFN-γ (E), and IL-23 (F) upon stimulation with Ba PGN (*, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001; n = 2). P values for the responses to the two preparations (WT and capA mutant) were determined by comparing the mean pg/ml of each cytokine detected for the treated cells to the mean pg/ml of each cytokine detected for the control cells for each of four or five donors in a two-tailed t test. Data shown are from a representative donor.