Fig. 1.

Increased levels of cholesterol and GM1 in the plasma membrane of T cells from patients with SLE and activated normal T cells. (A) Purified T cells from SLE patients and healthy controls were labelled with the cholesterol chelator filipin and analysed by flow cytometry. The results shown are the cumulative data collected from five lupus patients and five healthy volunteers. (B) SLE and normal T cells were stained with Alexa-fluor 594-conjugated cholera toxin B subunit (CTB-Alexa 594) and analysed by confocal microscopy. The images shown are adjusted to the same output intensity and are representative of samples generated from two healthy donors and two SLE patients. Bar = 10 μm. (C) Peripheral blood T cells from healthy donors were activated in vitro with a combination of anti-CD3/anti-CD28 antibodies and stained with CTB-Alexa 594 or filipin to assess the levels of GM1 and cholesterol, respectively.