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. 2011 Mar 14;6(3):e17739. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0017739

Figure 4. Cooperation of IL-6 and IL-21 for plasma cell generation and antibody responses.

Figure 4

C57BL/6 (B6) or IL-21−/− mice treated with αIL-6 or isotype mAb throughout the acute LCMV infection. (A) Titers of anti-LCMV IgG in the serum of B6 or IL-21−/− mice ± αIL-6 mAb 8 days following LCMV infection: B6 vs. B6 + αIL-6 (**, P = 0.0016), B6 vs. IL-21−/− (*, P = 0.025), B6 vs. IL-21−/− + αIL-6 (**, P = 0.0016), and IL-21−/− vs. IL-21−/− + αIL-6 (**, P = 0.0012). (B) Quantitation of plasma cell development by FACS: B6 vs. IL-21−/− (***, P = 0.0008), B6 vs. IL-21−/− + αIL-6 (***, P<0.0001), and IL-21−/− ± anti-IL-6 (*, P = 0.0143). (C) Plasma cell (CD138+IgD−) development 8 days post-infection, gated on CD19+ splenocytes. Data are representative of 3 independent experiments; n = 5–6 mice per group. ns, not significant.