Fig. 1.

Crucial role of Eomes for iNKT cell terminal differentiation. a Percentage of CD1d-tet⁺TCRβ⁺iNKT cells in WT and Eomes cKO thymus, spleen, and liver (n = 6–8, mean ± SEM). b CD24, NK1.1, and CD44 staining on gated iNKT cells from (a). c Percentage of stage 0 to 3 iNKT cells from WT and Eomes cKO mice (n = 6–8, mean ± SEM). d Expression of Vα14TCR in WT and Eomes cKO mice was assessed by flow cytometry as mean fluorescence intensity (MFI). Similar data were obtained from at least three independent experiments. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***< p < 0.001, Mann–Whitney e Quantitative PCR analysis of Eomes mRNA in thymic iNKT cells (TCRβ⁺CD1d-tetramer⁺) from WT mice: stage 0 (CD24⁺CD44⁻NK1.1⁻CD69⁺), stage 1 (CD24⁻CD44⁻NK1.1⁻), stage 2 (CD24⁻CD44⁺NK1.1⁻), stage 3 (CD24⁻CD44⁺NK1.1⁺). (n = 6, mean ± SEM) **p < 0.01, two-tailed Student’s t-test