Figure 1.

Transient expression of Stat5b∗ promotes CD8⁺ T cell engraftment in the absence of lymphodepletion

(A) Experimental schematic demonstrating three groups of animals that underwent adoptive cell transfer (ACT) using either conventional 5 Gy irradiation lymphodepletion (LD), no LD followed by ACT, or no LD followed by ACT with cells transfected with a plasmid encoding STAT5∗ immediately prior to ACT. (B) Representative ventral images of ffLuc-Thy1.1-engineered CD8⁺ T cells 3 days after ACT. (C) Animals were measured for 29 days post-ACT, and the intensity of the signal emitted by the ffLuc-Thy1.1⁺ T cells was expressed as luminescence. Quantification of total (dorsal + ventral) luminescence is plotted (n = 10 for LD, LD pCMV-mStat5b∗, and no LD; n = 5 for Stat5b∗ mRNA). (D) Peripheral IL-6 cytokine levels 24 h prior to ACT and 4 days post-ACT (n = 5 for no LD, gamma irradiation, and cyclophosphamide; n = 10 for no LD with Stat5b∗). ∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01, ∗∗∗p < 0.001, ∗∗∗∗p < 0.0001 by unpaired Student’s t test (C and D). Error bars indicate the SEM.