Maturation markers on DCs exposed to LPS and/or ManLAM and PIM from H37Rv.

<p>Immature DCs were stimulated with mycobacterial glycolipids (ManLAM and PIM at the concentration of 10 µg/ml and 5 µg/ml, respectively) or/and LPS (100 ng/ml) as indicated in the diagrams. After 48 h cells were harvested, stained for maturation markers CD80, CD86, and MHC class II and analyzed by flow cytometry. For each treatment mean fluorescence intensities (MFI) were related to the levels obtained for stimulation with LPS and expressed as %. The median percentage change in MFI is shown as a line. The box defines the 75th and 25th percentiles and the whiskers define the maximum and minimum values of 7–11 donors/group. The horizontal, dashed lines represent surface marker expression obtained for LPS treated DC. Groups significantly different from LPS-treated control are labeled with asterisks. Vertical bars designate significant differences between treatment groups. Wilcoxon matched pair test was used to assess statistical significance (*P<0.05, **P<0.01).