Evaluating cytokine production by flow cytometry using brefeldin A in mice.

Characterizing cytokine production is important for properly understanding immunologic responses. Cytokine reporter mice are limited by the need to cross markers into various knockout backgrounds and by availability of reporters of interest. To overcome this, we utilize injection of brefeldin A into mice to enable flow cytometric analysis of cytokine production during a bacterial infection. While we evaluate IFN-γ production during infection, this protocol can be applied to other cytokines and other mouse models. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Kovacs et al. (2020) and Liu and Whitton (2005).