Generation of IL-8 and IL-9 Producing CD4+ T Cells Is Affected by Th17 Polarizing Conditions and AHR Ligands
Figure 6
AHR ligands influence the cytokine expression of CD4+ T cells. CD4+ T cells were cultured with anti-CD3/anti-CD28, Th17 polarizing conditions and the AHR ligands FICZ (100 nM), TCDD (5 nM), and B[a]P (100 nM) for five days. CD4+ T cells treated with anti-CD3/anti-CD28, Th17 polarizing conditions, and DMSO (0.05%) were used as control. (a) The amount of cytokine producing cells measured by intracellular staining is represented as fold change to control (black line) and shown as mean and SEM. *represents significance, , Mann-Whitney test, and . (b) The concentration of secreted cytokines in the supernatant was measured by CBA (IL-17A, IL-9, IL-8, and IFN-γ) and ELISA (IL-22). Data are shown as fold changes of cytokine concentration in the presence of AHR ligands compared to control (black line) and are represented as mean and SEM; *represents significance, , Mann-Whitney test, and . (c) and (d) Relative mRNA expression of the indicated genes was measured by real-time PCR and data were normalized to the mean of GUSB, PPIA, and PGK1 and to the mRNA expression at day 0 using the Ct-method. The fold change of mRNA expression in AHR ligand treated cells compared to control (black line) is represented as mean and SEM; *represents significance, , Mann-Whitney test, and .
