Figure 1. Notch2 signaling regulates splenic DC development.

Mice with Itgax-cre -mediated deletion of Notch1 or Notch2 or DC-specific overexpression of DNMAML1 were analyzed along with the respective cre-negative littermate controls. Statistically significant differences are indicated as follows: ***, P<0.001; **, P<0.01; *, P<0.05.

(A) Representative staining profiles of total splenocytes with the fraction of CD11c^hi MHC II⁺ DCs indicated.

(B) The fraction (top) and absolute number (bottom) of splenic DCs (mean ± S.D. of 3–6 animals per group).

(C) Staining profiles of gated CD11c^hi MHC II⁺ splenic DCs, with CD11b⁺ (blue), CD8⁺ (green), and double-negative (purple) subsets highlighted. The percentages represent mean ± S.D., n=3–6 for DC-Notch1^Δ and DC-DNMAML1 and 11–12 for DC-Notch2^Δ.

(D) The percentage among total splenocytes (top) and absolute number (bottom) of CD11b⁺ and CD8⁺ DC subsets (mean ± S.D. of 8–10 animals per group).

(E) The expression of SIRPα and CD24 in gated CD11c^hi MHC II⁺ CD11b⁻ CD8⁻ double-negative DCs from conditional Notch2 (DC-Notch2^Δ) and littermate control (Ctrl) spleens. The SIRPα⁺ and CD24⁺ populations indicative of the differentiation towards CD11b⁺ and CD8⁺ DC subsets, respectively, are indicated (representative of 2 animals).

(F) Expression of surface markers in CD11b⁺ DCs from DC-Notch2^Δ and control spleens.