Activation of diverse repertoires of autoreactive T cells enhances the loss of anti-dsDNA B cell tolerance
J. Clin. Invest. Brian W. Busser, et al. 112:1361 doi:10.1172/JCI18310 [Go to this article.]

Figure 7
Increasing CD4⁺ T cell diversity is required for IgG ANA production. (a) The indicated CD4⁺ T cell repertoires were injected into 3H9.KI mice. Each recipient received a total of 10 × 10⁶ cells. The scatter plots show IgG anti-chromatin autoantibody responses of individual mice 4 weeks after cGVHD induction. The IgG anti-chromatin autoantibody response elicited by 2-2-3/K14 plus H2-DM^–/– CD4⁺ T cells was statistically similar to the response from recipients of bm12 CD4⁺ T cells (P > 0.05). (b) Seven days after cGVHD induction, mice were euthanized and splenocytes were stained with Ab’s against B220, λ1, and B7.2. Histograms show B7.2 expression on gated B220⁺ λ1⁺ anti-dsDNA B cells for the B6-transfer negative control (black line) or mice injected with the combination of the limited T cell repertoires (red line). Results are representative of three experiments. (c) Spleen sections from mice receiving the combination of the limited T cell repertoires were stained for Thy1.2 (brown) and B220 (blue). Note the presence of Thy1.2⁺ T cells in the B cell follicle. Results are representative of three experiments.