Figure 3.

Increased homeostatic expansion of CD4⁺ T cells in NOD.scid.Il15^−/− mice occurs in a cell autonomous manner. Purified CD4⁺ T cells from NOD mice (a) or splenocytes from BDC2.5 mice (b and c) were labeled with CFSE and injected intravenously (0.5×10⁷ cells) into lymphopenic NOD.scid and NOD.scid.Il15^−/− recipients (a and b) or lymphoreplete NOD and NOD.Il15^−/− recipients (c). Splenocytes and cells from individual lymph nodes of the recipients recovered on day 3 (a, b) or at the indicated days (c) after adoptive transfer were analyzed. Representative data from at least two independent experiments (5–6 mice per group) are shown. CFSE, 5-(6)carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester; NOD, non-obese diabetic.