CD4⁺ Th2 cells are conditioned towards a functionally hypo-responsive phenotype during <i>L. sigmodontis</i> infection.

<p>PC, tLN, and splenic CD4⁺ T cells from naïve (open symbols) and <i>L. sigmodontis</i> infected (closed symbols) BALB/c IL-4gfp mice were analyzed at d20, d40 and d60 pi for expression of GFP, IL-4, IL-5 and IL-2. (A) Representative flow plots showing expression of IL-4 protein by PC IL-4gfp⁺CD4⁺ T cells. (B–J) Percentage of PC (B–D), tLN (E–G), and splenic (H–J) IL-4gfp⁺CD4⁺ Th2 cells producing IL-4 (B, E, H), IL-5 (C, F, I), and IL-2 (D, G, J) protein upon stimulation with PMA and ionomycin. Symbols represent individual animals and lines represent means. Panels show one representative experiment of two with 4–6 mice per group. ***p<0.001, ** p<0.05, significant change over time (ANOVA performed using combined data from infected mice from two experiments), ¶ significant pair-wise comparison (p<0.05, Tukey's HSD).