FIG. 1.

Improved regeneration of irradiated thymus in Vanin-1^−/− mice. Thymic reconstitution in whole-body-irradiated mice (6 Gy) was estimated by the total cell count. (A) Anti-Vanin-1 (407-7-4 and 407-6-3) or isotype-matched control (735) antibodies (50 μg) were injected intravenously into WT or Vanin-1^−/− mice (n = 5). PBS was used as a control. White bars show WT mice, and black bars show Vanin-1^−/− mice. *, P < 0.001. (B) Thymic cellularity in WT and Vanin-1^−/− mice on day 3 (d3; n = 22 and 24, respectively; P < 0.02) or day 8 (d8; n = 29 and 31, respectively; P < 0.0001) postirradiation. Where indicated, some irradiated mice received 3 × 10⁷ CFDA-SE-labeled bone marrow cells intravenously, and intrathymic fluorescence-positive cells were counted by cytofluorimetry on day 3 (n = 15 and 17, respectively; P < 0.05). (C) Counting of the immature DN CD4⁻ CD8⁻ T cells in thymus 8 days after irradiation. For statistical analysis, P < 0.005 comparing WT with Vanin-1^−/− mice and nontreated with treated Vanin-1^−/− mice. Each point is representative of an animal.