Figure 2.

Pharmacological inhibition or genetic ablation of PDIA3 protects mice against collagen-induced arthritis

(A) Clinical scores in WT and KO mice after collagen-induced arthritis. (B) Representative picture of the ankle of WT and KO mice at day 42 after CIA induction. (C) Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining of the ankle section from the arthritic mice. (D–F) Plasma IFN-γ (D), IL-17A (E), and TNF-α (F) levels in WT and KO arthritic mice 42 days after CIA induction. (G–I) Axillary lymph nodes from WT and KO arthritic mice were harvested at the same time and subjected to flow cytometry analysis. The frequencies of CD4⁺IFN-γ⁺ (Th1) (G), CD4⁺IL-17A⁺ (Th17) (H), and CD4⁺Foxp3⁺ (Treg) (I) subsets are shown as representative dot plot graphs. (J) The scheme for the RA mouse model with NTZ administration. (K) Clinical scores in control and NTZ-treated mice after collagen-induced arthritis. (L) Representative picture of the ankle of the arthritic mice day 42 after CIA induction. (M) H&E staining of ankle sections from the arthritic mice. (N–P) Plasma IFN-γ (N), IL-17A (O), and TNF-α (P) levels in WT and KO arthritic mice on 42 days after CIA induction. (Q–S) Axillary lymph nodes from these arthritic mice were harvested and subjected to flow cytometry analysis. The frequencies of CD4⁺IFN-γ⁺ (Th1) (Q), CD4⁺IL-17A⁺ (Th17) (R), and CD4⁺Foxp3⁺ (Treg) (S) subsets are shown as representative dot plot graphs. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM (n = 5 per group) and images are representative of at least three independent experiments. Statistical significance was calculated by unpaired Student’s t test. ∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01, ∗∗∗p < 0.001. ns, not significant.