Figure 6.

Induction of EAE in Bcl-xγ wt and −/− mice. (A) Mean clinical scores. Animals were immunized with the a PLP, PLP172–183; wt, n = 9, and −/−, n = 9. Scoring of disease development in (C57BL/6 × 129)F₂ littermates that carried the Bcl-xγ^−/− (−/−) or wt (+/+ and +/−) genotype is shown based on the mean scores of two independent experiments (±SEM) as described in Materials and Methods. (B, left) Proliferative responses of PLP peptide-specific T cells from wt and −/− mice. T cells were stimulated in vitro with PLP peptide in the presence of irradiated APCs. Data (±SE) represents the mean thymidine uptake of triplicate cultures. (Right) PLP peptide-specific IL-2 production (measured by ELISA) from draining LN cells of Bcl-xγ wt and −/− mice. T cells were activated in vitro with PLP peptide in the presence of irradiated APCs. Values are the average of triplicate determinations (±SEM). (C) FACS^® analysis of CD4 and CD8 T cells from Bcl-xγ^−/−, Bcl-xγ Tg, and Bcl-xγ wt mice according to expression of CD44^hi, CD62L, and CD45RB. LN cells from Bcl-xγ Tg, −/−, and control (littermate) mice were isolated and analyzed by flow cytometry (16) for the indicated cell surface/activation markers expressed by LN cells (3.5 × 10⁷ cells per animal). Data shown are the average values from four mice (for each genotype) that were 6 mo of age (± 1 wk) and expressed as a percentage of wt values.