Figure 5.

α-GalCer induces IL-12R expression on NKT cells. C57BL/6 wild-type mice, CD1d^−/− mice, and NKT-deficient mice were injected intravenously with vehicle () or α-GalCer (▪). 4 h after the injection, spleen cells were prepared and their expression of IL-12Rβ1 (A) and IL-12Rβ2 (B) mRNA was measured by quantitative RT-PCR. (C) Spleen cells from wild-type mice were cultured with DCs plus α-GalCer or vehicle for 8 h, NK1.1⁺TCR-α/β⁺ NKT cells were purified by cell sorting, and the expression of IL-12Rβ1 () and IL-12Rβ2 (▪) was examined by quantitative RT-PCR. (D) Wild-type mice were injected intravenously with α-GalCer or vehicle; after 6 h the spleens from these mice were isolated, and NK1.1⁺TCR-α/β⁺ NKT cells were purified by cell sorting, and expression of IL-12Rβ1 () and IL-12Rβ2 (▪) was examined by quantitative RT-PCR. The IL-12R mRNA levels are presented as an induction index, as described in Materials and Methods. The bars represent mean ± SE of triplicate samples.