Fig. 3: CD11c^hiLy6C^hi monocytes represent the main source of IL-27 during T. gondii infection.

a Violin plots of log₂ expression values (38.7-Ct) of the five genes encoding IL-12 (Il12a and Il12b), IL-23 (Il23a and Il12b), and IL-27 (Il27a and Ebi3) by individual monocytes from BM, spleen (CD11c^hi and ^low), and SILP from naive (SS) or infected (8 dpi) mice (see the color code). b–d IL12B-YFP (Yet40) reporter mice and IL27a-eGFP BAC reporter mice were infected perorally with T. gondii cysts. b Flow cytometric analysis of CD11b⁺Ly6C^high monocytes from the BM, blood, spleen, mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN), and small intestine lamina propria (SILP) of naive (SS) and infected (8 dpi) mice. Numbers represent the frequency of positive monocytes. Scatter plots indicate the frequency of IL27A-GFP (above) and IL12B-YFP (below) positive monocytes in each organ. Horizontal bars indicate median ± interquartile range and are representative of more than three experiments. Each point represents an individual mouse. c Flow cytometric analysis of IL12B-YFP and IL27A-GFP expression by splenic monocytes (CD11c^hi and ^low), conventional DC 1 (cDC1) and 2 (cDC2), defined as Lin⁻MHCII^hiCD11c^hiCD64⁻CD11b^lowCD8α⁺ and Lin⁻MHCII^hiCD11c^hiCD64⁻CD11b⁺CD8α^low, respectively. Numbers represent the frequency of positive cells. d Relative proportion of each population among IL27A-GFP⁺ and IL12B-YFP⁺ cells in the spleen of infected mice (means from n = 4 per group, representative of three independent experiments).