FIG. 3.

PCR analysis of gp63 expression in footpads from mice infected with L. major alone, during the acute (T. gondii Ac-L. major) or chronic (T. gondii Chr- L. major) phase of T. gondii infection. Mice were infected intraperitoneally or not with 20 cysts of T. gondii and challenged 5 days (acute) or 30 days (chronic) later with 10⁶ stationary forms of L. major. At the 7th week of L. major infection, mice were sacrificed, and the footpads were used as a DNA source employed in a GP63-specific PCR analysis. The left panel shows the PCR products of a reaction using 100 ng of footpad DNA and primers specific for L. major GP63. Each curve represents the average (± standard deviation) of two animals, indicating the intensity of the GP63-specific PCR product employing different concentrations of footpad DNA, as measured by densitometric analysis. No PCR products were found in samples obtained from uninfected animals or animals infected with T. gondii alone. Similar results were found in two different experiments.