Fig. 2.

Impaired Th2 cytokine responses and killing effector functions in mb1^creIL-4Rα^–/lox mice infected with L. major LV39. (A–D) Total LN CD4⁺ T cells were restimulated for 72 h with fixed APCs and SLA. The production of IL-4 (A), IL-13 (B), IL-10 (C), and IFN-γ (D) in cell supernatants was determined by ELISA (ND, not detected). (E and F) CD11c^hiMHCII^hiCD11b⁺Ly6c^hi inflammatory DCs in the LN were analyzed for the production of IL-12 (E) and iNOS (F) by intracellular FACS staining. (G) Quantification of iNOS and arginase 1-positive areas in multiple sections of formalin-fixed footpads by immunohistochemical staining. Full sections of footpads were scanned at 2× objective lens using a Nikon 90i microscope and quantified using NIS-Elements advanced research software for quantification of positive staining expressed as a ratio of iNOS⁺/Arg-1⁺, serving as a proxy for classical and alternative activation, respectively. A representative of three individual experiments is shown with mean values ± SEM. Statistical analysis was performed defining differences to littermate IL-4Rα^–/lox BALB/c control mice as significant (*P ≤ 0.05, **P ≤ 0.01, ***P ≤ 0.001).