Figure 2.

Resolving fibroblasts mediated immunosuppressive effect through IL-6 and TGF-β₁. Actions of IL-6 or TGF-β₁ were neutralised, alone or in combination, in TNFα+IFNγ-treated cocultures incorporating fibroblasts from patients with (A) resolving synovitis, (B) very early RA or (C) joint replacement RA (JRep). Dotted line (-----) represents adhesion to TNFα+IFNγ-treated endothelial monocultures for paired experiments. IgG represents cocultures incubated with isotype control antibodies. In A and B, ANOVA shows a significant effect of antibody treatment on lymphocyte adhesion (p<0.01). Data are the mean±SEM from three to five independent experiments each incorporating a different donor for all cell types. *p<0.05 compared with None (untreated cocultures) by Dunnett post-test. ANOVA, analysis of variance; IFNγ, interferon gamma; IL-6, interleukin 6; JRep, joint replacement; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; TGF-β, transforming growth factor beta; TNFα, tumour necrosis factor alpha.