Figure 2.

Aspergillus fumigatus germ tubes and depleted zymosan (dZym) trigger strong pro-inflammatory cytokine release by murine neutrophils. Murine or human neutrophils were stimulated with A. fumigatus conidia, germ tubes, dZym or PMA for a period of 3 h. Subsequently, cytokine concentrations in the culture medium were determined by 13-plex cytokine assays. PMNs obtained from three human donors (white bars) and three mice (black bars) were assessed. Mean concentrations of IL8/Groα (A), IL6 (B), IL10 (C), MIP1α (D), MIP1β (E), and TNFα (F) are shown. Error bars indicate standard deviations. Significance was calculated as difference to unstimulated with ANOVA and Tukey post-test (stars above of bars) as well as between human and mouse specimens with unpaired t-Test.