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. 2006 Sep 7;116(10):2717–2726. doi: 10.1172/JCI25052

Figure 6. Treatment of PNP–/– mice with TAT-PNP prevents abnormalities in thymus and T lymphocyte number and function.

Figure 6

Immune function of PNP–/– mice following 12 weeks of treatment with 0.5 U/g body wt of TAT-PNP or nonfused PNP was compared with that of age-adjusted healthy control littermates. (A) TAT-PNP treatment significantly increased the absolute number of thymocytes in the thymus of PNP–/– mice. (B) Analysis of single-cell suspensions from thymus stained with PE- and FITC-conjugated anti-CD4 and anti-CD8 mAbs. Isotype-matched PE- or FITC-labeled antibodies were used as negative controls. Cells expressed CD4+, CD8+, or CD4+CD8+ (double positive; DP) or showed no expression (double negative; DN). TAT-PNP treatment significantly improved the number of DP thymocytes in PNP–/– mice. (C) Analysis of the percentage of T cells in the spleen by flow cytometry. Nylon wool single-cell suspensions were stained with PE- and FITC-conjugated anti-CD3 and anti-CD19 mAbs. Isotype-matched PE- or FITC-labeled Abs were used as negative controls. Treatment with TAT-PNP significantly increased the percentage of T lymphocytes in the spleen of PNP–/– mice. (D) T lymphocyte function analysis. T lymphocytes were stimulated in vitro with anti-CD3. Proliferation is expressed as stimulation indexes (SI) of the mean cpm with stimulation divided by the mean cpm without stimulation. TAT-PNP treatment significantly increased the response of T lymphocytes in the spleen of PNP–/– mice. Results are mean ± SD of 5–10 mice. *P < 0.05.