Fig. 1.
Mercury-induced ANoA and ANA are not reduced in Casp1–, Stat4–, Il12a– or Il12b–deficient mice. Three genotypes of mice, wildtype (+/+), heterozygous knockout (+/−), and homozygous knockout (−/−) for each gene, received subcutaneous injections of PBS or HgCl2 (40 µgs) in PBS twice/week for 4 weeks before serum was collected and assayed for autoantibodies as described in Materials and Methods. N = 8–9/genotype. Results are expressed as mean ± 1 SEM of fluorescence intensity at a serum dilution of 1/100. Only results for HgCl2-treated mice are shown. Fluorescence intensity of ANoA for all PBS treated mice was 0. Fluorescence intensity of ANA for PBS-treated Casp1−/− mice was 0.06 ± 0.18. Fluorescence intensity of ANA for all PBS-treated IL-12p35 mice was 0. Fluorescence intensity of ANA for PBS-treated IL-12p40 mice was 0.06 ± 0.18 for wildtype and heterozygous mice. Fluorescence intensity of ANA for PBS-treated Stat4 mice was 0.06 ± 0.18 for wildtype and 0.25 ± 0.46 for heterozygous mice.