Fig. 3.

CD81 inhibits Tregs and promotes Th17 cell differentiation through a paracrine-dependent mode. The culture media from AdCD81- or AdCTL-infected HTR-8/SV neo cells were separated into exosome and exosome-free media by differential centrifugation. Exosomes (a, b) and exosome-free media (c, d) were added into naïve T cell culture medium under Treg or Th17 polarizing conditions, respectively. The proportions of Treg cells (a, c) and Th17 cells (b, d) were analyzed by flow cytometry. The large extracellular loop of recombinant human CD81 (rhCD81) was added to the naïve T cell culture medium under Treg or Th17 polarizing conditions at different concentrations (e, f). The proportion of Treg cells (e) and Th17 cells (f) was then analyzed by flow cytometry. The results were from at least three independent experiments. *P < 0.05; ns, no significance