Splenocytes from LVS-related vaccinated mice exhibit a hierarchy of control of intramacrophage LVS growth.

BMMΦ from BALB/cByJ mice were infected with LVS (Macs), and co-cultured with splenocytes obtained from naïve or vaccinated BALB/cByJ mice (Panel A), and from naive or vaccinated BKO mice (Panel B), as indicated. After two days of co-culture, BMMΦ were washed, lysed, and plated to evaluate the recovery of intracellular bacteria. Values shown are the mean numbers of CFU/ml ± SD of viable bacteria for triplicate samples. Results shown are from one representative experiment of seven (using splenocytes of BALB/cByJ mice) or four (using splenocytes of BKO mice) independent experiments of similar design and outcome. Brackets indicate a significant difference (P < 0.05) between the recoveries of bacteria in co-cultures. There were no significant differences between the recovery of bacteria from co-cultures using LVS-immune cells and LVS-G-immune cells (Panel A) and the recovery of bacteria from co-cultures using LVS-G-immune cells and LVS-R-immune cells (Panel B).