Murine model of cutaneous leishmaniasis infection

All animal experiments were carried out according to protocols approved by the Animal Welfare Committee of the local governmental authorities (Regierung von Mittelfranken, Ansbach and Regierung von Unterfranken Wurzburg, Germany). Hif1α^flox/flox mice (34) were crossed with lysozyme M-driven Cre (LysM^Cre)-transgenic mice (35), both on a C57BL/6 background (36), as described earlier (37), to obtain mice deficient for Hif1α in their myeloid cell compartment (Hif1α^Δmyel). At the age of 8–9 wk, female C57BL/6 Hif1α^Δmyel mice and littermate controls were injected in the hind footpads with 3 × 10⁶ stationary-phase L. major promastigotes (of low in vitro passage [≤5]) in 50 μl of PBS to induce infection.