Fig. 1.
IL-7 induced the development of PD-1highCXCR5- Tph-like cells from human PB CD4 T cells. (A) PBMCs from healthy human subjects were cultured with or without 50 ng/ml of IL-7 for 14 days. Representative dot plots showing the expression of PD-1 and CXCR5 on CD4 T cells are shown. The right panel (CD4 in RA joint) indicates the staining pattern of CD4 T cells isolated from RA joint. (B) The frequency (left) and cell number in a culture well (right) of PD-1highCXCR5- Tph-like cells induced with varying concentration of IL-7. (C) The frequency and number of PD-1highCXCR5- Tph-like cells induced from PBMC of HC and RA are shown (n = 6). (D) CTV-labelled PBMCs were cultured either with IL-7 (upper panels) or in plate wells precoated with anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 mAbs (lower panels). Expression of PD-1 and CTV staining of CD4 T cells cultured for the indicated days is shown. Induction of PD-1highCXCR5- Tph-like cells from PD-1-depleted (E) or CXCR5-depleted (F) PBMCs by IL-7. Left panels (d0) indicate the expression of PD-1 and CXCR5 on CD4 T cells before and after negative selection. ∗p < 0.05.