Fig 2. Newly generated Traj18-deficient mice lack Vα14 NKT cells.

(A) Flow cytometry profiles of thymocytes, splenocytes and liver mononuclear cells from WT, Traj18^-/- and Cd1d1^-/-Cd1d2^-/- mice. Unloaded CD1d dimer staining was used as a staining control. Numbers depict percentage of αGC/CD1d dimer⁺ TCRβ⁺ NKT cells among viable CD8^-B220^- gated lymphocytes. The data are representative of three independent experiments. (B) In vivo cytokine production by NKT cells upon systemic activation with αGalCer administration. WT or Cd1d1^-/-Cd1d2^-/- or Traj18^-/- mice were injected intravenously with 2 μg of αGalCer and blood plasma were collected after either 3 h and 24 h, and IFN-γ and IL-4 concentrations were measured using cytokine beads assay. Bars depict mean ± SEM of n = 3 mice per genotype analyzed. Data are representative of three experiments.