Fig. 2

BCG-L91 generates polyfunctional Th1 cells and Th17 cells. The mice primed and boosted with BCG-L91 and infected with Mtb were sacrificed. The control animals were only immunized with either BCG or placebo. A single cell suspension was prepared from lungs and in vitro incubated with L91, Pam2Cys and ST-CF for 72 h. Secretion of IFN-γ and IL-17A was examined in the culture SNs by ELISA. The bar diagram indicates amount of a IFN-γ and b IL-17A secreted by lungs cells. The co-expression of c IFN-γ + TNF-α; e IL-17A + IFN-γ was checked by flow cytometry on CD4 gated T cells. Bar diagrams represent the percent of double positive cells expressing d IFN-γ + TNF-α; f IL-17A + IFN-γ on CD4 gated T cells of lungs. g The flow cytometry contours and h bar diagram designates the co-expression of CXCR3 + CCR6 on IFN-γ + IL-17A polyfunctional CD4 T cells. Data are representative of 3 independent experiments and shown as Mean ± SEM. *p ≤ 0.05, **p ≤ 0.005, ***p ≤ 0.0005, ns not significant