Elevated expression of IFN-γ in CD4+ T cells treated with AFE. CD14+ PBMCs were isolated, induced to immature DCs and then incubated with/without AFE for 24 h. DCs markers, CD83 (A) and CD80 (B), were detected by flow-cytometric analysis; (C) CD4+ T cells were co-cultured with mature DCs (AFE) or immature DCs (control) for 24 h. Expression of CD4 and CD69 were detected by flow-cytometric analysis; (D) CD4+ T cells were sorted from PBMC and co-cultured with mature DCs (AFE) for 0, 24, 48 h. The mRNA levels of inflammatory cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-17 and IL-22) (normalized for Actin) were measured by qPCR. *, P<0.05; **, P<0.001. PBMC, peripheral blood mononuclear cell; DC, dendritic cell; AFE, Aspergillus fumigatus.