TNF and infection: In this context, it is conceivable that the enhanced release of IL-12, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 by ΔesxB infection likely promotes a robust Th1 and Th17 response (Figure 6), whose crucial role in the immunity against S. aureus has been demonstrated by several studies (Spellberg et al., 2008; Lin et al., 2009; Krishna and Miller, 2012; Zielinski et al., 2012; Bagnoli et al., 2015; Kolata et al., 2015).