As shown in Figure 4, significantly higher levels of circulating TNF were detected in the serum of NFATp−/− mice at 4 weeks after infection, concordant with the increased TNF mRNA levels in NFATp−/− lungs at this time point, and they were again elevated at 16 weeks post-infection when the animals began to show clinical signs of severe disease. Here, NFATC2 is linked to infection.