Figure 8.
Therapeutic potential of Rv3463 in vivo. (A) A schematic diagram of the experimental design. C57BL/6 mice were infected intratracheally with 1 × 106 CFU Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) per mouse, and then immunized three times with Rv3463 or ESAT-6. (B) Differences in the bacterial burden among mice groups treated with the protein-DDA/MPL, or the infection-only group, and those treated with the adjuvant control (DDA/MPL alone) at 4 weeks after the final immunization are shown in the lungs and spleens (n = 5 mice per group). **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001 compared to infection only group. n.s., no significant difference. (C) C57BL/6 mice infected intravenously with Rv3463-expressing M. smegmatis (ms_Rv3463) and vector controls strain (ms_vector) (1 × 106 CFU per mouse) were sacrificed at the indicated time points (n = 3 per group at each time point) and then CFUs were determined in the lungs and spleens. **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001 compared vector controls.