FIG 2.

Trophic forms induce less robust expression of multiple cytokines, positive regulators of inflammation, and transcription factors than treatment with a mixture of trophic forms and cysts. The relative gene expression level after 8 h of treatment was calculated as the log2 value of the quotient of the expression value in treated cells divided by that of untreated cells. All cytokine genes in the preassembled NanoString panel are graphed (A). The data in panels B and C represent all genes encoding regulators of inflammation or immunity-related transcription factors with a statistically significant 2-fold or greater difference in expression between BMDCs treated with trophic forms versus those treated mixed P. murina organisms. Differences in expression levels between the groups were identified by log-transformed two-way ANOVA, followed by pairwise comparisons using the least significant difference method. Five biological replicates were used per group. A change was deemed significant if the P value was <0.01. Significant differences (P < 0.01) between results are indicated as follows: *, between BMDCs treated with trophic forms and unstimulated cells; †, between cells treated with trophic forms and those treated with mixed P. murina organisms; ‡, between cells treated with trophic forms and those treated with curdlan.