Fig 3. Increased production of IL-17A by CD4⁺ T cells of vaccinated mice.

(A, B) Mice (n = 6/group) were immunized with α-PA vaccine (2×10⁸ CFU) or administered saline, according to the schedule; then spleens and lungs were collected. In (B), mice (n = 6/group) were infected with PA14 (1×10⁶ CFU), 9 h before the spleens and lungs were obtained. (C, D) Representative examples and percentage of CD4-gated T cells expressing IL-17A obtained from spleens (C) and lungs (D) of infected and non-infected mice, detected by intracellular staining after stimulation with PMA/ionomycin. Analysis regions were set according to FMO and isotype control-stained samples. Numbers inside dot plot regions represent means ± SD of the frequency of cells due to respective cytokine staining. Bars represent mean ± SD of data. *P<0.05, **P<0.01 (t-test).