Figure 1.

Natural killer (NK) cells expand in the spleen and become more mature following infection by Sporothrix schenckii. BALB/c mice were inoculated intraperitoneally with 10⁶ S. schenckii yeast cells or phosphate‐buffered saline (PBS) and then killed at the indicated time‐points for assessment of NK cell frequency and maturation status by flow cytometry. (a, b) Frequency and absolute number of NK (CD3⁻ CD49b⁺ SSC^low) cells in the spleen, respectively. (c–e) Frequency of splenic NK cell subsets in each maturation stage as defined by the expression of CD11b and CD27. (f, g) Representative plots from 10 days post‐inoculation. Statistical significance was determined by two‐way analysis of variance using Sidak's multiple comparisons test and a 95% confidence interval. *P < 0·05, **P < 0·01, ***P < 0·001 and ****P < 0·0001 for comparisons with the control group in each time‐point. The results are presented as the mean ± SD of five mice.