Fig 2. Assessing the efficacy of the ASP-2/TS vaccine to protect mice against T . cruzi infection. (A) Timeline of vaccination experiment. (B) Assessment of efficacy. Vaccinated (n = 5) and control BALB/c mice (n = 3) were infected i.p. with 10 3 bioluminescent T . cruzi trypomastigotes and monitored by in vivo imaging. Representative ventral images (from a single mouse in each case) are shown at sequential time points post-infection. All images use the same log 10 -scale heat-map with minimum and maximum radiance values indicated. (C) Quantification of whole animal bioluminescence (ventral and dorsal) of vaccinated and control cohorts (mean ± SD). Dashed line indicates background bioluminescence; ( �� ) p < 0.01, ( � ) p < 0.05. (D) Ex vivo bioluminescence imaging. Left-hand image; arrangement of organs and tissues. Insets, representative images of organs from control and vaccinated mice, 95 days post- infection (see also S1 Fig).