Interleukin-15 Constrains Mucosal T Helper 17 Cell Generation: Influence of Mononuclear Phagocytes
Fig 1
Differences in Th17 cell frequencies in the LP of IL-15 Tg or KO mice, but not in frequencies of Th1 or Treg cells.
Cells from spleen and small intestine LP were stimulated for four hours with PMA and ionomycin and stained with surface markers CD3 and CD4, followed by intracellular staining of IL-17, IFNγ or Foxp3. A. Higher frequencies of Th17 cells were found in the LP of IL-15 KO mice than matched co-caged WT mice (p < 0.001 by Mann-Whitney). B. IL-15 Tg mice showed significantly lower frequencies of Th17 cells in the LP compared with their co-caged WT littermates (the littermates were considered as matched WT controls) (p < 0.001 by Mann-Whitney). C. The frequencies of IFNγ -producing CD4+ T cells were not significantly different in the LP of IL-15 KO vs WT and IL-15 Tg vs littermate WT control. D. The frequencies of CD3+CD4+Foxp3+ cells were not significantly different in small intestinal LP of IL-15 KO vs WT and IL-15 Tg vs littermate WT control. This figure pools data from several independent experiments with similar results. Double asterisk (**denotes P<0.001).