Figure 6.

Cellular immune response of C57Bl/6 mice to DNA-immunization with HCV core gene variants delivered by intramuscular injections. (a) Secretion of IFN-γ and IL-2 by the splenocytes of mice DNA-immunized with core152s (n = 22) or core191v (n = 22) and stimulated with the recombinant HCV core or core-derived peptides 1.5 or two weeks after the prime, one and two weeks post the 1^st boost, and two or six weeks post the 2nd boost; (b) Percent of mice responding to T-cell stimulation by the secretion of IFN-γ, IL-2 and IL-4 at different time points of immunization cycle; (c) Proliferative response of mouse splenocytes to in vitro stimulation with HCV core and core-derived peptides two and six weeks post the last DNA immunization. * denotes a significant difference between the values demonstrated by the recipients of core152s and core191v DNA (p < 0.05); #-tendency for difference between the values demonstrated by the recipients of core152s and core191v DNA (0.05 < p < 0.15). Cellular response data for each time point correspond to a different set of mice sacrificed to perform the cellular test. All assays were done in duplicates. Statistical analysis was done by Mann–Whitney test.