Figure 7.

Renal injury and leukocyte infiltration are reduced in Rag1^−/− mice injected with Treg-depleted CD4⁺ T cells from naïve RORγt^−/− mice. (A and B) Recipients of cells from WT mice showed severe necrotizing glomerulonephritis, whereas mice receiving RORγt^−/− cells were protected. Only mild histologic injury was seen in control Rag1^−/− mice not receiving cells (PAS stain; top row 400×, bottom row 200× [original magnifications]). (C) Albuminuria was reduced in mice receiving RORγt^−/− cells at days 2 and 9 after the induction of nephritis to levels comparable with non-cell-injected control mice, and serum urea was lower in mice receiving RORγt-deficient cells. (D) RORγt-deficient cell recipients had a trend toward fewer CD4⁺ cells in glomeruli, whereas macrophages and neutrophils were significantly reduced (n = 9 WT cells, n = 6 RORγt^−/− cells, n = 5 no cells). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.0001.