Figure 6. PPARγ deficiency in T cells spontaneously increases follicular helper T cell and germinal center formation.

(A) Representative flow cytometric gating strategy for the identification of follicular helper T cells, which were identified as CD4⁺TCRβ⁺CD62L^lowCD44^highPSGL-1^lowCXCR5⁺PD-1⁺ cells in the spleen of 1-year-old mice. (B, C) Flow cytometric analysis of T_FH cells from 1-year-old mice. Values represent the mean ± SEM, n = 10. *P<0.05. (D) Germinal centers of frozen 7-µm sections from spleen of 1-year-old mice were visualized by confocal microscopy. Slides were stained for PNA (green), IgD (red), and CD4 (blue) to detect germinal centers, B cells, and T cells, respectively. (E) The number of PNA⁺ germinal centers per spleen section was quantitated, n = 5. (F) The frequency of B220⁺GL7⁺CD95⁺ germinal center B cells from splenocytes and (G) amount of IgM and IgG1 from the sera of 1-year-old control (Cre−) and CD4-PPARγ^KO (Cre+) mice was analyzed. Values represent the mean ± SEM, n = 8–11. *P<0.05.