Co-delivery of flagellin improved protective efficacy of vaccination against aerosol challenge with <i>M</i>. <i>tuberculosis</i>.

<p>Mice were primed IM twice with DNA vaccine and boosted either IM or IN with Ad vaccine 3 weeks later or were sham immunized with PBS at these time points as shown in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0148701#pone.0148701.t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>. Mice given 1×10⁶ CFU of BCG via footpad at 14 weeks prior to challenge, the time point corresponding to Ad boosting, served as controls. At week 14 post-boosting, mice were aerosol challenged with 50–100 CFU of virulent <i>Mtb</i> H37Rv strain. At week 6 post-challenge, mice were euthanized and lungs were removed and homogenized for enumeration of bacterial loads in systemic (A) and mucosal (B) prime-boosted mice. Data shown are mean of CFU ± SEM per group for 5 individual mice within each group. (*<i>p</i> < 0.05; **<i>p</i> < 0.01; ***<i>p</i> < 0.001). Representative data from one of two independent experiments are shown (n = 5).