Figure 3. Candidacidal titers in immunized animals.

Hundred µg of plasmids containing the selected peptide sequences (pT.TK1, pT.TK2, pT.TK3, and pT.TK4) or empty vector (pT.neo) were given three times i.m. and serum was collected at day 56 after the first immunization. To verify candidacidal titer elevation, the plasmids above described were also co-administered with a plasmid encoding for murine interferon-γ (pmIFN-γ) (70 µg). For comparison, groups of animals were immunized three times with the TK1 and TK4 peptide conjugated to keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) (40 µg) using Freund's adjuvant. To calculate mean geometric titers (horizontal bars), sera without detectable candidacidal activity were given an arbitrary titer of 4.5 (i.e. half of the reciprocal of the lowest dilution tested). *, P<0.05 =  significantly different from pT.neo or KLH alone by ANOVA and Student-Newman-Keuls test.