Figure 6. NK cells do not influence intra-islet DC maturation in NOD mice.

A) NK cells were not detected in islets from NSG mice (first panel on left) or NOD.NK1.1 mice treated with anti-NK1.1 (far right panel), but were found in islets from Rag2^−/− NOD mice and NOD.NK1.1 mice treated for 8 weeks with isotype-matched control IgG. Plots are of CD45⁺ cells isolated from islets of 10 week-old mice and numbers represent percentages of total CD45⁺ cells. B) DCs were detected in islets of NSG and Rag2^−/− NOD mice, and in the islets of NOD.NK1.1 mice treated with isotype-matched control IgG or anti-NK1.1 (α-NK1.1). Plots are of CD45⁺ cells isolated from islets of 10 week-old mice and numbers represent percentages of total CD45⁺ cells. C) NK cells in Rag2^−/− NOD mice do not promote DC maturation relative to the NK cell-deficient NSG mice (top row) as there was no difference in maturation marker expression on DC in Rag2^−/− NOD and NSG mice. NOD.NK1.1 mice treated with anti-NK1.1 or an isotype-matched control IgG have DCs of similar maturation status (bottom row). One representative experiment of three independent experiments is shown.