Fig. 3: Efb inhibits host pro-inflammatory responses via TRAF3.
a qPCR analysis of Tnf, Il1b, Il6, and Il12p40 mRNA of PMs infected with Newman, ΔEfb (MOI = 25) for 4 h; wild-type PMs (WT) were isolated from TRAF3[flox/flox] mice; TRAF3 knockout (KO) PMs were isolated from TRAF3[flox/flox, Lyz2-Cre] mice (**P = 0.0096, Tnf; ***P = 0.0001, Il1b; **P = 0.0011, Il6; **P = 0.0015, Il12p40). b ELISA quantification of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-12 levels in lung tissues from TRAF3[flox/flox] (Flox) or TRAF3[flox/flox, Lyz2-Cre] (TRAF3 KO) mice, homogenized in 1 ml PBS and infected with Newman, ΔEfb for 24 h (2 × 108 CFUs per mouse; ****P < 0.0001, TNF-α; *P = 0.0184, IL-1β; *P = 0.0427, IL-6; **P = 0.0089, IL-12). c Quantification of the bacterial CFUs of lung tissue homogenates obtained in b (**P = 0.0030). d, e Histopathology of lung tissues was assessed in H&E sections stained from mice infected for 24 h; scale bars, 1000 μm (top) and 200 μm (bottom), the boxed areas at the top are enlarged below (****P < 0.0001). Student’s two-tailed unpaired t-test (a, b, d) or two-tailed Mann–Whitney U test (c) was used for statistical analysis. Data are representative of three experiments with at least three independent biological replicates. The bars show the mean and standard deviation of n = 3 (a), n = 9 (b, d), and n = 5 (e) mice per group. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
