Figure 3.

Cytokine production by spleen cells from immunized mice. C57BL/6 mice were immunized as described in Figure 2. Fourteen days after the last immunization, mice were sacrificed and their spleen cells stimulated with sonicated B. pertussis (sBp) or medium alone (negative control). After 72 h of culture, the concentrations of IFN-γ, IL-17, and IL-5 were determined in the culture supernatant by ELISA. The results are expressed as mean values (± SEM) of three biological replicates with each having 4 mice per group. Significant differences were analyzed for each cytokine between non-immunized and immunized mice. ^*p < 0.05, ANOVA followed by the Bonferroni post-hoc test.