Parasite specific CD8⁺ T cells are comparably activated within the brains of mice infected with <i>Pb</i> ANKA and <i>Pb</i> NK65 parasites.

<p>C57BL/6 mice were infected with 10⁴<i>Pb</i> ANKA or <i>Pb</i> NK65 pRBCs. <b>(A)</b> Representative flow cytometric plots and calculated percentages showing frequencies of CD8⁺ T cells (gated on live leukocytes) within the brains of uninfected and infected (day 7 p.i.) mice (n = 5). <b>(B)</b> Absolute numbers of CD8⁺ T cells within the brains of uninfected and infected (day 7 p.i.) mice (n = 19–22). <b>(C)</b> Percentage of CD8⁺ T cells expressing high levels of the surrogate antigen specificity marker, CD11a (n = 5). <b>(D)</b> Activation phenotype of CD8⁺CD11a^high T cells from uninfected and infected (day 7 p.i.) mice (n = 5). Results are representative of two independent experiments <b>(A, C and D)</b> or four combined experiments <b>(B)</b>. Bars represent mean number ± SD. *p ≤ 0.05, **p ≤ 0.01, ***p ≤ 0.001, ****p ≤ 0.0001 (one-way ANOVA with Tukey's multiple comparisons test).