Figure 1.

Dynamics of CD4⁺ T follicular helper cell in mice infected with Schistosoma japonicum. The FVB mice were infected with 15 cercariae of S. japonicum. (a) Normal and infected mice (7 weeks post-infection) were sacrificed, the splenic cells were directly stained with CD4-FITC, CXCR5-PE antibody and subsequently intracellular stained with Bcl-6-PE. Numbers are indicated in the upper right of each chart which represent the percentage of Bcl-6⁺CXCR5⁺ cells within the CD4⁺ T cells population; (b) Pooled data are from two independent experiments, values are given as mean+/− SD (n = 6), *P < 0.05; ***P < 0.001 (Student’s t-test); (c) Five mice per group were sacrificed at 0, 4, 7, 9, 12, 16 weeks post-infection, pooled data are from two independent experiments, values are given as mean+/− SD (n = 6), ***P < 0.001 (Student’s t-test); Splenic cells were harvested from normal and infected mice (4, 7, 9, 12, 16 weeks post-infection), surface stained with CD4-FITC, CXCR5-PE, ICOS-PE-Cy5.5, PD-1-APC antibody. FACS dot plots shows the proportions of CXCR5⁺CD4⁺ positive cells within total lymphocytes population (d) or CD4⁺ T cell population (e); (f), (g) The data shows mean+/− SD (n = 6) from two independent experiments, *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01 (Student’s t-test); (h) The percentage of CXCR5⁺CD4⁺ Tfh cells in total lymphocytes population is correlated positively with the level of HA in serum; (i,j,k) The proportion of ICOS⁺CXCR5⁺ and PD-1⁺CXCR5⁺ Tfh cells in CD4⁺ population are expressed as the mean+/− SD of 6 mice from two independent experiments, *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01 ***P < 0.001 (Student’s t-test).