Fig 1. TGF-β3 inhibits B cell antibody production.

(a, b) B cells were cultured under IL-21 and CD40L stimulation for 11 days in serum containing medium (a) or serum free medium (b), and antibody production was assessed by ELISA. Among the IL-21 and CD40L stimulated samples, each of the TGF-β treated samples was compared with TGF-β untreated sample using one way ANOVA, Dunnett test (n = 3). Results are representative of two similar experiments. (c) B cells were cultured as in (a) and the percentage of 7AAD positive cells among CD19⁺ cells were assessed by flow cytometry. TGF-β treated samples were compared with TGF-β untreated sample using one way ANOVA, Dunnett test (n = 3). Results are representative of two similar experiments. (d) B cells were cultured under IL-21 and CD40L stimulation for 5 days and cell proliferation and the percentage of CD38^high plasmablasts among CD19⁺7AAD^- cells were assessed by flow cytometry. Results are representative of two similar experiments. (e) PBMCs were stimulated with IL-21 and sCD40L for 12 days, and IgG production was assessed by ELISA. Among the IL-21 and CD40L stimulated samples, each of the TGF-β treated samples was compared with TGF-β untreated sample using one way ANOVA, Dunnett test (n = 3). Results are representative of three independent experiments.