Figure 3.

DC activation during L. infantum infection is dependent on TLR2. In vivo surface markers of DCs from uninfected (NI) and at 4th wpi WT and TLR2^−/− mice were determined by flow cytometry. Histograms demonstrate the costimulatory molecules in the CD11c^high population (A) and bar graphs represent the percentage of MHCII (B), CD40 (C), and CD86 (D). All analyses were performed on CD11b⁺CD11c^high gated cells. WT and TLR2^−/− BMDCs were infected with L. infantum (5:1) or medium for 24 h and IL-12p40 (E) and IL-10 (F) levels in the supernatants were measured by ELISA. Data are expressed as the mean ± SEM and are representative of three independent experiments, N = 4–5. ^*P < 0.05 compared to infected WT (B–D) or compared to stimulated WT (E,F), #P < 0.05 compared to uninfected WT, &P < 0.05 compared to uninfected TLR2^−/− (two-way ANOVA with Tukey's post-hoc test).