Figure 4. Fluidigm immune gene expression analysis in routine and delayed BCG-vaccinated HIV-exposed infants at 2 weeks of age.

Expression of 48 genes (including 2 housekeeping genes) was measured via Biomark (Fluidigm) quantitative real-time PCR analysis at 2 weeks of age when only the “routine” arm had received vaccination. (A) Fold change of gene expression between the routine versus delayed BCG-vaccinated groups. (B) –ΔCt (calculated by Ct_{gene of interest} – Ct_GAPDH) of genes that demonstrated significantly differential expression between the groups. Lines depict the median; whiskers depict interquartile range. (C) Linear regression of gene expression of CIITA, CD8A, IL12RB1, IFNA1, and IL1A as determined at 2 weeks of age (–dCt expression value is shown on the x axis) and subsequent activation of activated CD4⁺CCR5⁺HLA-DR⁺CD38⁺ HIV target cells at 6 weeks in all infants combined (shown on the y axis).