Antigen Recognition By Autoreactive Cd4+ Thymocytes Drives Homeostasis Of The Thymic Medulla (original) (raw)
Figure 1
Medulla formation is defective in mice lacking CD4+ thymocytes.
(A) Sections from WT, _β2m_−/−, _H2-Aα_−/− and _TCRα_−/− thymi were stained with antibodies against K14 and K8; m, medulla. The graph shows medullary areas obtained from 3 experiments: symbols represent individual confocal images; lines represent medians. (B) The distribution of medullary areas (mm2) counterstained with HE is shown for WT, _β2m_−/−, _H2-Aα_−/− and _CIIta_IV-/IV- mice: 3 mice per genotype; number of sections is 87 for WT, 90 for _β2m_−/−, 91 for _H2-Aα_−/− and 78 for _CIIta_IV-/IV-; significance relative to WT. (C) Representative FACS profiles are shown (top) for Ly51 expression by CD45−EpCAM+ TECs from WT, _β2m_−/−, _H2-A_α−/− and CIItaIV-/IV- mice: percentages of cells are indicated. Percentages (bottom left) and numbers per thymus (bottom right) of CD45−EpCAM+Ly51−/lo mTECs and CD45−EpCAM+Ly51+ cTECs are shown: means and SD from 3 measurements; significance relative to WT.