Figure 1. MEF2C maintains the integrity of bone marrow B-lymphoid compartment.

(a) Flow cytometric analysis of bone marrow B-lymphoid progenitor fractions in Vav-Cre Mef2c^fl/fl mice as compared with control mice revealed reduction of all B-lymphoid progenitors in Mef2c-deficient mice while the mature B cells in the bone marrow (sIgM⁺) were not affected (n≥11). (b) Flow cytometric analysis suggested that loss of Mef2c does not affect the frequency of bone marrow common lymphoid progenitors (CLP) (n≥7). (c) Flow cytometric analysis of caspase 3/7 activation in bone marrow B-lymphoid progenitors documented increased cell death in Mef2c-deficient B-lymphoid progenitors while total bone marrow and sIgM⁺ cells were not affected (n≥7). (d) Caspase 3/7 activation was not increased in Mef2c-deficient CLP (n=8). All mice were analysed at 7–11 months of age and both male and female mice were included. Data shown are the mean±s.d. of two or more independent experiments. NS, not significant, *P<0.05, **P<0.01 and ***P<0.001, unpaired t-test.