Isolates. Moreover, clinical C. Dimethylenastron manufacturer gattii isolates also induced higher IL-1b, IL-6, TNF-a, IL-1Ra and IL-17 than clinical C. neoformans isolates. The C. gattii genotypeCryptococcus gattii Induced Cytokine PatternFigure 3. Comparison of cytokine production by PBMCs induced by clinical or environmental cryptococcal isolates. Heat killed clinical isolates of C. gattii are compared to environmental C. gattii isolates and to clinical isolates of C. neoformans. The clinical isolates of C. gattii genotype AFLP6/VGII are depicted separately. Mean values (n = 5 to 7) 6 SE values of three independent experiments are presented. *, p 0.01 to 0.05; **, p 0.001 to 0.01; ***, p,0.001. The horizontal line represents the lower detection limit. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0055579.gAFLP6/VGII, however, induced no higher amounts of other cytokines compared to the other clinical C. gattii isolates. In a different panel of Cuban C. neoformans var grubii isolates, comparison of clinical with environmental isolates showed no significant difference (P value for IL-6 and IL-22: 0.19 and 0.07 respectively) in cytokine production (Figure 4). The induction oflow levels of cytokines by C. neoformans var grubii isolates, as seen in the 1846921 panel of 40 isolates, was confirmed.Involvement of different Pattern Recognition Receptors (PRRs) in cytokine production induced by C. gattiiTo assess which PRRs are 1531364 involved in recognizing C. gattii, we performed experiments in which PBMCs were preincubated forCryptococcus gattii Induced Cytokine PatternFigure 4. Comparison of cytokine production by PBMCs induced by clinical or environmental C. neoformans var grubii isolates. Cytokine production by human PBMCs after 24 h (IL-6) and 7 d (IL-22) incubation with heat-killed isolates is shown. Mean values (n = 7) 6 SE of three independent experiments are presented. ns, not significant. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0055579.gone hour with specific PRR blocking reagents prior to stimulation with heat-killed C. gattii or, as a control, culture medium. Stimulation with culture medium showed undetectable levels for all cytokines (not shown). Blocking TLR2 had no effect on cytokine production by C. gattii, whereas this antibody significantly inhibited IL-1beta production after stimulation with Pam3cys (a known TLR-2 ligand) (Figure S1). Blocking TLR4 significantly diminished IL-1b induction by C. gattii, with a trend towards significance for TNF-a (P = 0.06). Interestingly, blocking TLR9 led to significantly higher concentrations of IL-1b induced by C. gattii compared to its control, and a trend towards significance (P = 0.06) was found for TNF-a. Blocking TLR9 had a negative effect (P = 0.03) on IL-17 production induced by C. gattii (Figure 5 for the effect on IL-1b and IL-17). We performed these experiments also with C. neoformans var grubii (H99). The latter isolate did not ASP-015K chemical information elicit a substantial proinflammatory cytokine response in PBMCs, as shown in previous experiments with other strains. Moreover, we did not observe an increase in IL-1b and TNF-a production induced by C. neoformans var grubii when blocking TLR9 (results not shown).without mediating IL-17 and seems to be critical in differentiation ?of naive T cells to Th22 cells [16]. IL-22 is a unique cytokine in that it acts only on non-immune cells including keratinocytes, myofibroblasts and epithelial cells in tissues of the respiratoryDiscussionIn the present study we investigated the in-vitro cytokine production of human PBMCs incubated with 4.Isolates. Moreover, clinical C. gattii isolates also induced higher IL-1b, IL-6, TNF-a, IL-1Ra and IL-17 than clinical C. neoformans isolates. The C. gattii genotypeCryptococcus gattii Induced Cytokine PatternFigure 3. Comparison of cytokine production by PBMCs induced by clinical or environmental cryptococcal isolates. Heat killed clinical isolates of C. gattii are compared to environmental C. gattii isolates and to clinical isolates of C. neoformans. The clinical isolates of C. gattii genotype AFLP6/VGII are depicted separately. Mean values (n = 5 to 7) 6 SE values of three independent experiments are presented. *, p 0.01 to 0.05; **, p 0.001 to 0.01; ***, p,0.001. The horizontal line represents the lower detection limit. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0055579.gAFLP6/VGII, however, induced no higher amounts of other cytokines compared to the other clinical C. gattii isolates. In a different panel of Cuban C. neoformans var grubii isolates, comparison of clinical with environmental isolates showed no significant difference (P value for IL-6 and IL-22: 0.19 and 0.07 respectively) in cytokine production (Figure 4). The induction oflow levels of cytokines by C. neoformans var grubii isolates, as seen in the 1846921 panel of 40 isolates, was confirmed.Involvement of different Pattern Recognition Receptors (PRRs) in cytokine production induced by C. gattiiTo assess which PRRs are 1531364 involved in recognizing C. gattii, we performed experiments in which PBMCs were preincubated forCryptococcus gattii Induced Cytokine PatternFigure 4. Comparison of cytokine production by PBMCs induced by clinical or environmental C. neoformans var grubii isolates. Cytokine production by human PBMCs after 24 h (IL-6) and 7 d (IL-22) incubation with heat-killed isolates is shown. Mean values (n = 7) 6 SE of three independent experiments are presented. ns, not significant. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0055579.gone hour with specific PRR blocking reagents prior to stimulation with heat-killed C. gattii or, as a control, culture medium. Stimulation with culture medium showed undetectable levels for all cytokines (not shown). Blocking TLR2 had no effect on cytokine production by C. gattii, whereas this antibody significantly inhibited IL-1beta production after stimulation with Pam3cys (a known TLR-2 ligand) (Figure S1). Blocking TLR4 significantly diminished IL-1b induction by C. gattii, with a trend towards significance for TNF-a (P = 0.06). Interestingly, blocking TLR9 led to significantly higher concentrations of IL-1b induced by C. gattii compared to its control, and a trend towards significance (P = 0.06) was found for TNF-a. Blocking TLR9 had a negative effect (P = 0.03) on IL-17 production induced by C. gattii (Figure 5 for the effect on IL-1b and IL-17). We performed these experiments also with C. neoformans var grubii (H99). The latter isolate did not elicit a substantial proinflammatory cytokine response in PBMCs, as shown in previous experiments with other strains. Moreover, we did not observe an increase in IL-1b and TNF-a production induced by C. neoformans var grubii when blocking TLR9 (results not shown).without mediating IL-17 and seems to be critical in differentiation ?of naive T cells to Th22 cells [16]. IL-22 is a unique cytokine in that it acts only on non-immune cells including keratinocytes, myofibroblasts and epithelial cells in tissues of the respiratoryDiscussionIn the present study we investigated the in-vitro cytokine production of human PBMCs incubated with 4.