Assessment of legionella-specific immunity in mice.

Legionella pneumophila is the causative agent of the potentially fatal Legionnaires' disease in humans. Mice have proved to be valuable model organisms to study the pathogenesis of this intracellular bacterium, as well as immune responses against it. In this chapter we describe a selection of mouse infection protocols to study the innate and adaptive immune responses raised after an infection with Legionella. Included are protocols for systemic and pulmonary infections, surgical collection of organs as well as determination of cell composition, cytokines, and antibody titers therein. Furthermore, we describe an immunohistology protocol to analyze lung tissue sections by fluorescence microscopy.