Figure 3. Itga4 sufficient B cells can control EAE severity in CD19^Cre Itga4^fl/fl mice.

(A) Proliferative response of 2D2 Tg CD4⁺ T cells (MOG_35-55 TCR Tg mice) stimulated with MOG_35-55 and increasing numbers of B cells isolated from spleen (left) or dLN (right) of MOG_35-55-immunized CD19^Cre Itga4^fl/fl mice (filled circles) and CD19^Cre mice (open circles) was measured by [³H] thymidine incorporation. Results are representative of 2 independent experiments with 4 mice. (B) One group of CD19^Cre Itga4^fl/fl mice was injected intravenously one day prior to immunization with 10×10⁶ untouched B cells isolated from spleen of WT mice (grey triangles). Another group of CD19^Cre Itga4^fl/fl mice (closed circles) and a group of CD19^Cre mice (open circles) received PBS. The next day, all mice were immunized for the development of EAE. The mean clinical score is shown for each group over time (± SEM). (C) Mean maximum clinical score and mean clinical score at the end of the experiment (day 40) were calculated for each group (n= 7 mice per group). (D) CD19^Cre Itga4^fl/fl mice received PBS (black circle) or 10×10⁶ total WT B cells (grey triangles), or MZ depleted B cells (clear rectangle) as described in (B) and were immunized for EAE development. The mean clinical score is shown for each group over time (± SEM). (E) Mean maximum clinical score and mean clinical score at the day 19 were calculated for each group. Statistical significance was designated as follows: * p<0.05 **; p<0.01 and # p<0.005.