Louis, MO) diluted in dimethylsulphoxide plus

saline was injected intravenously into mice 6 hr before splenocyte harvest, and subjected to cell surface and intracellular cytokine staining as described.33,34 The CD8+ T-cell response to OVA257–264 was examined with H-2Kb dimer X (BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA) loaded with OVA257–264 peptide.30 Antibodies for cell surface and reagents for intracellular cytokine staining were purchased from BD Biosciences. For quantifying cytokine production by L. monocytogenes-specific T cells, splenocytes XL765 were plated into 96-well round bottom plates (5 × 106 cells/ml), and stimulated with the H-2Kb major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I OVA257–264 or I-Ab MHC class II listeriolysin O (LLO)189–201 peptides (1 μm) in media supplemented with brefeldin https://www.selleckchem.com/ATM.html A (Golgi-plug reagent).30,31 The concentration of IFN-γ

in serum was quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (R&D Systems, Minneapolis, MN). The differences in geometric mean CFUs, number and percentage of T cells between groups of mice were evaluated using the Student’s t-test with P < 0·05 taken as statistically significant (GraphPad Prism software, La Jolla, CA). Based on the potency whereby IL-21 controls the activation and differentiation of NK and T cells,1 and the protective roles for each of these cell types in innate L. monocytogenes host defence, the impact conferred by IL-21 deficiency on early susceptibility to L. monocytogenes infection was enumerated. After infection with 1 50% lethal dose (LD50; 105 CFUs in control B6 mice), both IL-21-deficient and control B6 mice each contained similar numbers

of recoverable L. monocytogenes CFUs within the first 72 hr after infection (Fig. 1a). Moreover by 72 hr post-infection, the remaining mice in each group uniformly became moribund. Therefore, no apparent defects in innate susceptibility based on the degree of bacterial proliferation and time to death were found for IL-21-deficient compared with control mice after high-dose L. monocytogenes infection. Erythromycin In similar experiments, the susceptibility of IL-21-deficient mice was also enumerated after infection with reduced L. monocytogenes inocula (103 CFUs) to more precisely characterize the potential requirement for IL-21 in innate host defence. With this reduced L. monocytogenes inocula, IL-21-deficient and control mice both appeared healthy and did not become moribund. Furthermore, no significant differences in L. monocytogenes bacterial burden were identified for IL-21-deficient mice compared with control mice at each time-point within the first 7 days post-infection even with this reduced L. monocytogenes dose (Fig. 1b). In both groups of mice, the bacterial burden was sustained over the first 72 hr after infection, and then declined to levels that approached the limits of detection by day 5 post-infection.