Fig. 2.

TLR-L concentration does not influence the fraction of IFNα-producing pDCs in droplets. a, b The pDCs were coated with capture reagent, encapsulated in picoliter droplets, and stimulated individually with a CpG-C or b R848 for 12 h. After staining for viability, surface marker expression and cytokine secretion, cytokine-secreting cells, and viable cells were detected via flow cytometry. Shown is the fraction of marker-expressing cells plotted against TLR ligand concentration. Different concentrations were tested in different donors; a n ≥ 3, b n ≥ 2. c The pDCs were treated as described above and stimulated with 0.01 µg/mL IL- 3 or 50 µg/mL CpG-C. Shown is the fraction of cytokine-secreting cells plotted against treatment condition; n = 5. Bars indicate mean. d The pDCs were treated as described above and stimulated with 50 µg/mL CpG-C for 12 h or 24 h. Shown is the fraction of IFNα-secreting or viable cells plotted against treatment condition; n = 8 (c, d) Mann–Whitney test *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01