Fig. 5

Effect of triatomine saliva on DC viability in vitro. Bone marrow cells derived from C57BL/6 mice were collected and cultured for 7 days in the presence of GM-CSF to allow differentiation into DCs. DCs were then incubated with triatomine saliva (P. lignarius, M. pallidipennis, T. lecticularia and R. prolixus - dilution 1:30 v/v in the middle) for 18 h. The cells were then collected and stained with Annexin V and propidium iodide to evaluate apoptosis by flow cytometry. a Graphical representation of the cell viability, the bars represent mean ± standard error (SEM) of triplicates. b Comparison between the positive control of cell viability and apoptosis induced by heat. c DCs incubated just with medium, normal cell viability. d-g DCs incubated with triatomine saliva (P. lignarius, M. pallidipennis, T. lecticularia and R. prolixus - dilution 1:30 v/v in the middle, respectively).*P < 0.05 compared with CD cultured with medium. The figures are representative of two independent experiments. Bars represent the mean ± SEM number of viable DCs from duplicate experiments. Abbreviations: P.l, P. lignarius; M.p, M. pallidipennis; T.l, T. lecticularia; R.p, R. prolixus