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. 2018 Mar 30;42(1):346–358. doi: 10.3892/ijmm.2018.3606

Figure 4.

Figure 4

TIM-4 blockade stimulates the differentiation of T cells into CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ T regulatory cells via the IL-4/STAT6/Gata3 pathway. (A) TIM-4+ and TIM-4− KCs were obtained from mice following liver transplantation and co-cultured with naive CD4+ T cells. The expression of p-STAT6 in T cells was determined using western blotting. (B) TIM-4 mAb was added to co-cultured cohorts as described in A, to analyze the expression of p-STAT6 in T cells. (C) The exogenous addition of IL-4 to TIM-4+ KCs co-cultured with naive CD4+ T cells (that received either no pretreatment or pretreatment with TIM-4 mAb) was performed and the expression of p-STAT6 in T cells was analyzed. (D) TGF-β was added to TIM-4+ KCs co-cultured with naive CD4+ T cells (that received either no pretreatment or pretreatment with TIM-4 mAb) to determine the expression of Foxp3 and Gata3 protein in T cells. Data are presented as the mean ± standard deviation of the mean. aP<0.05 vs. control; bP<0.05 vs. TIM-4+ group. TIM-4, T cell immunoglobulin-domain mucin-domain-4; IL-4, interleukin-4; p-, phosphorylated; STAT6, signal transducer and activator of transcription 6; Gata3, transcription factor gata3; CD, cluster of differentiation; mAb, monoclonal antibodies; KCs, kupffer cells; TGF-β, transforming growth factor-β; Foxp3, forkhead box P3.