Figure 5.

Anti-ovary serum autoantibodies are produced by Aire-deficient Balb/c mice. WT (n=5) and Aire-KO (n=15) mice were bred at approximately 6 weeks of age to intact WT Balb/c males. Presence of a copulation plug was confirmed visually, and females were euthanized 7–10 days later. All five WT mice and seven of 15 Aire-KO mice were confirmed pregnant. Sera were collected and used to probe a western blot of ovarian lysate from RAG2^−/− mice, fitted with a Mini-Protean II Multiscreen apparatus. Although band size and intensity varied between animals, nearly all Aire-deficient mice displayed serum autoreactivity against ovarian antigens. Prominent bands included ∼70 kD and ∼90 kD antigens in pregnant and non-pregnant animals, respectively. AIRE, autoimmune regulator; RAG, recombinase-activating gene; WT, wild-type.