FIG 4.

C. gattii laccase deletion strain potentiates the induction of cryptococcus-specific IL-17 responses during the early phase of infection. BALB/c mice were intranasally infected with C. gattii R265, LAC1 deletion (lac1Δ), and LAC1 complementary (lac1Δ::LAC1 [::LAC1]) strains at 5 × 10⁴ yeast cells/mouse. At the indicated time points, lung-draining lymph nodes were harvested and cell suspensions were prepared to analyze cryptococcus-specific cytokine production. After lymph node cells were stimulated with heat-killed Cryptococcus cells for 72 h, supernatant from lymph node stimulation at 7 (A) and 14 (B) days postinfection (dpi) was collected and subjected to analysis of cytokines IFN-γ, IL-17, and IL-4 by ELISA. Graphs show results for individual mice and means ± SD from three pooled independent experiments (n = 3 mice per group per experiment). Significance was determined by one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc analysis; ***, P < 0.0001.