Fig. 1
Schematic diagram of the experimental design. C57BL/6 female mice (6 mice/groups) were vaccinated subcutaneously with a single dose of BCG Pasteur (105 CFU). Five weeks later, BCG-vaccinated and unvaccinated mice were challenged i.v. with 105 CFU of Mtb H37Rv. The Tat protein (10 μg/mouse) in albumin buffer, or albumin buffer only were administered intradermally at 1, 2 and 4 weeks post Mtb infection. As control, some mice (5 mice/groups) were either vaccinated or not with BCG, were not challenged with Mtb (Mtb-free mice), but received the Tat protein or albumin buffer with a schedule identical to that of Mtb-infected mice. At 8 weeks post Mtb infection and 13 weeks post BCG vaccination, all mice were killed and the Mtb-related pathology and immune response against Mtb antigens or Tat protein were evaluated