TLR2 expression on purified DCs or whole lungs from sham-operated and CLP mice and IL-12 and IL-6 levels on whole lung of sham-operated and CLP mice that received DC therapy during fungal challenge. (A) Left graph shows the mRNA for TLR2 on DCs purified from sham or CLP mice 15 days after surgery. The DCs were plated at 2 × 10⁵/200 μL, and, after resting, the cells were incubated with medium, LPS (1 μg/mL), or conidia (1:1) for 4 hours; cells were then harvested and the mRNA levels were evaluated by real-time PCR (Taqman). The right graph shows the mRNA TLR2 expression in whole lung of sham and CLP mice 15 days after surgery and 6 hours after challenge with saline or 5 × 10⁷ conidia. ^*P < .05 between sham and CLP groups. The data shown are representative of 2 experiments. (B) Groups of mice were subjected to sham or CLP surgery, and at day 15 they received an intratracheal injection of saline, 5 × 10⁷ conidia alone, or the same number of conidia plus 1 × 10⁶ BMDCs. At day 2 after the intratracheal challenge, mice were killed, and BAL and lung tissues were processed for ELISA analysis. The data shown are representative of 2 experiments. ^*P < .05 compared with CLP + Asp group, and #P < .05 compared with Sham + DC + asp and CLP + asp. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM.