<i>Ex vivo</i> and <i>in vivo</i> migration of DCs infected with <i>O. tsutsugamushi</i>.

<p>A. Ears of C57BL/6 mice were split into halves and CFSE-labeled DCs (green) were put on top of the dermis. Colocalization of DCs within LYVE-1⁺ lymphatic vessels (red) in dermis was analyzed by confocal microscopy after 2 h of incubation. B. The numbers of DCs within lymphatics of ear dermis were counted in different fields of confocal images from A. **: <i>p</i><0.01. Red bars represent mean values. C. <i>In vivo</i> migration of DCs into lymph nodes was analyzed after subcutaneous injection of CFSE-labeled DCs into hind footpads of C57BL/6 mice. At 2 days after injection, CFSE-labeled CD11c⁺ cells in draining popliteal lymph nodes were detected by flow cytometer. Mean percentile of CFSE-labeled DCs in total lymph node cells from three separate experiments are presented. Error bar: mean+S.D., *: <i>p</i><0.05. CNT: immature DCs, OT: DCs infected with <i>O. tsutsugamushi</i>, UV-OT: DCs stimulated with UV-inactivated <i>O. tsutsugamushi</i>, LPS: DCs stimulated with LPS.