Figure 4

The activation profiles of macrophages treated with IFN-γ or IL-10 and infected with pathogenic mycobacteria. BMDM were pretreated, or not, with murine r-IFN-γ or r-IL-10 for 2 h, infected with the studied mycobacterial strains at a MOI of 5:1, washed, treated again with the cytokines and incubated for an additional 48 h. The cells stimulated with LPS and r-IFN-γ for 48 h, or left untreated, were used as a positive and negative controls of classical proinflammatory activation, respectively. To evaluate markers of M1-type activation, the culture supernatants were tested for proinflammatory mediator levels (A-C) and the adhered cells were tested for expression of iNOS (D). Measurement of TNF-α, IL-6, MCP-1, MIP-2 and IL-12 concentrations was performed by Bioplex test, and NO production was evaluated by Griess reaction Assays were completed with duplicate samples, and results are expressed as a mean of three independent experiments. To evaluate markers of M2-type activation, expression of Arginase 1 and MR/CD206 in the adhered cells was tested by Western blotting (E) and secretion of IL-10 was quantified by Bioplex assay (F). Lower panels in D and E, quantification of the protein levels by densitometric analysis of immunoreactive bands. Asterisks in A, B and F indicate the infected cultures treated with recombinant IFN-γ or IL-10, for which the induced cytokine production differed significantly from that in the corresponding cultures incubated without the presence of exogenic cytokines (*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001). Lines over bars in A and B indicate the Mbv isolates for which the induced cytokine or NO production differed significantly from that induced by H37Rv (#p < 0.01; ##p < 0.001).