Fig 1. Ca²⁺ flux in gated NK cells in response to odorants.

A) Total splenocytes from naive mice were stained with mAbs to CD3 and DX5 followed by cell loading with the Ca²⁺ sensitive dye Indo-1-AM. Gated CD3^- DX5⁺ NK cells were analyzed for the ratio of Indo-1 violet to blue fluorescence emission (Ratio Indo-1V/Indo-1B) over time before and after (indicated by an arrow) the addition of Bourgeonal. In the middle panel each dot represents an individual cell and the mean Indo-1V/Indo-1B ratio is plotted in the right hand panel. The indicated concentrations of several odorants, but not their solvent (DMSO), induce a Ca²⁺ flux response in NK cells from naive mice (B) the human NK cell line NKL (C) and the human T cell line Jurkat (D). No response is observed in the human embryonic kidney cell line HEK293 (E). Data are representative for 2–3 independent experiments for each condition and cell type.