Figure 2. GSNO treatment differentially modulates subset specific polarization of CD4⁺ T cells in spleen without exhibiting lymphopenia-related effect.

A. Normal mice (without EAE) were treated with saline (Ctrl), GSNO or FTY720 (FTY) for 19 days and the numbers of total lymphocytes (i), CD3⁺ T cells (ii), CD4⁺ T cells (iii), and CD8⁺ cells (iv) in bloods were analyzed (n=3). B. At the peak of EAE disease (day 20), CD4⁺ T cells were isolated from the spleens of EAE mice treated with saline (EAE) or GSNO, re-stimulated with MOG peptide, and number of lineage specific CD4⁺ T cells (IFN-γ⁺ T_H1, IL-17⁺ T_H17, CD25⁺ FOXP3⁺ Treg, and CD25⁺ FOXP3⁺ FOXP3⁻ Treg) were counted by fluorescence flow-cytometry analysis (n=4). The graphs show mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM): *** p < 0.001 compared to control (Ctrl) group; ⁺ p < 0.05, ⁺⁺ p < 0.001 compared to EAE group; n.s. = not significant.