Figure 2.

TECK stimulates Treg differentiation. After activation with anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 antibodies for 48 h, naïve T cells were cultured with S-ESC or S-E+U in the presence or absence of anti-human TECK neutralizing Abs (α-TECK) (5 μg/ml) or recombinant human TECK (rhTECK) (100 ng/ml) (a–c) for 5 days and an AKT or STAT3 inhibitor (d–h) for another 24 h. The number of CD4⁺CD25⁺ and CD4⁺Foxp3⁺ Treg cells in the total CD4⁺ T cell population was determined by flow cytometry (a–c, h). The phosphorylation of STAT3 and AKT in naïve T cells was analyzed by flow cytometry after incubation with S-ESC, S-E+U and/or α-TECK, an AKT inhibitor for 24 h (d–g). S-ESC: supernatant from ESCs isolated from ectopic lesions; S-U937: supernatant from U937 cells; S-E+U: supernatant from co-cultured ESCs and U937 cells. Data are expressed as the mean±S.D. ^#P<0.05, ^##P<0.01 compared with vehicle control; ^#P<0.05, ^##P<0.01 compared with the S-ESC group; ^ΔP<0.05, ^ΔΔP<0.01 compared with the S-E+U group