Fig. 4: Tb927.6.4140 is essential to attenuate early-stage cellular immune responses within the peritoneum and Tb927.6.4140-deficiency induces a stronger anti-inflammatory response within the peritoneum in vitro.

Mice were injected intraperitoneally with PBS (control), 5000 WT (90:13 strain) parasites, or 5000 Tb927.6.4140-KO parasites, and 18 h later mice were sacrificed, and the peritoneal cell numbers were determined. Of note, all injections consisted of 200 µl. The cellular composition of the peritoneal cells, i.e., B-cell, eosinophils, macrophages, monocytes, PMN (polymorphonuclear cells), CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells, and NK cells, was determined using the gating strategy described in Fig. S5. a Percentages of immune cells withing CD45⁺ cells in naïve, WT and Tb927.6.4140-KO parasite-infected mice. b Absolute numbers of total peritoneal cells as well as different immune cell subsets in naïve (control), WT, and Tb927.6.4140-KO parasite-infected mice. c Production of cytokines (TNF, IL-6, MIF, and IL-10, respectively) by PECs (cultured at 2 × 10⁵ cells/well) was determined following 48 h incubation. Results are representative of 2 independent experiments (n = 3 for the control and n = 5 for the infected groups) and presented as mean ± SEM. A one-way ANOVA with Turkey’s multiple comparison test was performed. NS not significant.