Fig. 4.

Detection of increased mTOR activity via phosphorylation of S6 ribosomal protein (pS6-RP) in T-cell subsets from lupus and matched controls. A) Assessment of pS6-RP in CD3⁺, CD4⁺, CD8⁺, and DN T cells from control (blue histograms) and lupus donors (red histograms). Blue/red values show the percentage of cell populations with increased mTOR activity in control and lupus T-cell subsets, respectively. B) Cumulative analysis of mTOR activity in T-cell subsets of all lupus patients relative to all healthy controls. Values represent mean ± SEM of cell populations with increased mTOR activity. p values reflect comparison of lupus and healthy donors with unpaired two-tailed t-test before treatment. C) Effect of NAC on mTOR activity measured by the prevalence of pS6-RP^hi T cells in lupus patients exposed to all doses considered together. p values reflect comparison to pre-treatment visit 1 using two-tailed paired t-test. D) Effect of NAC on CD3/CD28-induced mTOR activity in T cell subsets of lupus patients exposed to all doses considered together. p values reflect comparison to pre-treatment visit 1 using two-tailed paired t-test.