Figure 1.

γδ T cells provided immune protection against Cm infection by expansion, activation, and secreting IFNγ and IL-17. The mononuclear cells from WT mice (four/group) killed at specific time points following C. muridarum infection (1 × 10³ IFUs) were extracted from the lungs. In gated lymphocytes (a), percentage (b), and absolute number (c) of CD3+ TCRγδ+ T cells, expression level of CD69 on CD3+ T CRγδ+ T cells (d), percentage (e, g), and absolute number (f, h) of IFNγ/IL-17-produing γδ T cells were analyzed and calculated by flow cytometry. WT and TCRδ^−/− mice (four/group) were infected intranasally with C. muridarum (1 × 10³ IFUs). Body weight changes (i) were monitored daily, and pulmonary C. muridarum (j) were assessed at day 3, day 7, and day 14 p.i. as mentioned in Materials and Methods. Shown are the representative data of two independent experiments with similar results presented as mean ± SD. ^∗p < 0.05, ^∗∗p < 0.01, and ^∗∗∗p < 0.001.