Robust Plasma Cell Response to Skin-Inoculated Dengue Virus in Mice

Figure 1

Dynamic of PCs in the draining lymph node (DLN) of immune-competent mice induced by cutaneous DENV inoculation. (a) Mice were inoculated intradermally (i.d.). with  PFU of DENV, UV-inactivated DENV (iDENV), or endotoxin-free PBS at day 0, boosted at day 7, and samples were collected at the indicated days. PCs in the DLN were analyzed by flow cytometry, gating on single/live cells/CD138⁺Ly6C⁺ (Figure S1). (b) Representative contour plots during the kinetic p.i. shows the proportion of PCs with the different conditions. Numbers indicate the proportion of PCs among total single/live cells. (c) Absolute numbers of PCs at days 3, 7, 10, 14, and 21 p.i. (d) DLN cryosections labelled for CD138 (green), CD4 (blue) to identify the T zone (T), IgD for follicular B cells (white), and the proliferation marker Ki-67 (red). GCs are Ki-67⁺ cells inside IgD-negative areas. The medulla (M) is depicted in yellow solid line. Left and right panels show DLNs from DENV- and iDENV-inoculated mice, respectively, whereas the bottom panel shows a representative DLN from noninfected PBS-inoculated mice. A higher magnification of medulla CD138⁺ and CD4⁺ cells is shown for day 7 (white arrow) to illustrate specific staining of CD138⁺ PCs. Scale bars represent 200 μm. Flow cytometry data shown represent the from at least four independent experiments with two mice per group per time point and histology results from two experiments with four mice per group per time point. Two-way ANOVA with Bonferroni posttest were used for the statistical analysis. , , , and .

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