Research Article

Prolactin Increases the Frequency of Follicular T Helper Cells with Enhanced IL21 Secretion and OX40 Expression in Lupus-Prone MRL/lpr Mice

Figure 4

Differentiation and survival of TFH cells in the presence of PRL. Tnaïve cells from 9-week-old C57BL/6 and MRL/lpr mice were purified by MACS and differentiated to TFH in the presence and absence of PRL for 48 h, before staining with a viability marker (Ghost Red) and anti-Ki-67, anti-CD4, anti-CXCR5, anti-BCL6, and anti-ICOS antibodies. The surface CXCR5+PD1+ population represents TFH cells. (a) Percentage of differentiation to TFH in vitro. (b) Zebra plot of one representative experiment. (c) Expression of BCL6, CXCR5, and ICOS (MFI) in TFH cells. (d) Percentage of TFH cell survival. (e) Percentage of proliferation (Ki-67+). Six different experiments were performed; each experiment was done in triplicate. Pooled data are presented as the ; and using ANOVA.
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