Figure 6.

Cytokine production by splenocytes of ME49 ΔADSL-vaccinated mice after Toxoplasma antigen stimulation. ICR mice were vaccinated with 100 tachyzoites of ME49 ΔADSL, and splenocytes were harvested 150 days post-vaccination. The in vitro cultured splenocytes were then treated with fetal bovine serum (control), total soluble Toxoplasma antigen (TSA) or concanavalin A (conA, positive control) for 72 h. Subsequently, the levels of IFN-γ (a) and IL-12 (b) in the culture supernatants were measured by ELISA. Splenocytes isolated from non-immunized naïve mice were included as controls. Three mice from each group were analyzed, and each treatment condition was repeated three times. * p < 0.05, *** p < 0.001, Student’s t-test.