Figure 6.

CD8⁺T cell functional profile in vaccinated mice (± T. cruzi). Mice were vaccinated and challenged with T. cruzi as in Figures 1, 2. Splenocytes from vaccinated (A–D) and vaccinated/infected (E–H) mice were in vitro stimulated for 48 h in the presence of Tc antigenic lysate, and then labeled with fluorochrome-conjugated antibodies. The FITC⁺CD8⁺T cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. Shown are the mean percentages of (A,E) CD8⁺T cells expressing adhesion and migration markers (CD11a⁺, CD69⁺) and type 1 cytokines (IFN-γ and TNF-α) production; (B,F) poly-functional CD8⁺T cells that exhibited several markers of cytolytic activity (perforin⁺, CD107a⁺, TNF-α⁺, and IFN-γ⁺); (C,D) CD8⁺T cells with expression of cell death markers (CD95⁺, CD95L⁺); and (C,G) CD8⁺T cells expressing effector/memory markers (CD44⁺, CD62L⁺). Data (mean ± SD) are representative of two independent experiments (n = 3 mice per group per experiment, duplicate observations per sample). Significance is annotated as *none vs. vaccinated or infected vs vaccinated/infected, and ^∧comparison of vaccinated groups (*,^∧p < 0.05, **,^∧∧p < 0.01, and ***,^∧∧∧p < 0.001).