Fig. 4.

LFs, B cells, BAFF⁺ and CXCR4⁺ B cells were increased in uninfected Cftr ^−/− mice. A second cohort of uninfected Cftr ^−/− mice bred, housed and maintained at a different facility were also analyzed (cohort 2). a Representative confocal images of triple-color immunofluorescence staining of representative pulmonary LFs from Cftr ^−/− mice (top row) and wild type (WT) controls (bottom row). B cells are identified by staining for CD20 and red fluorophore. BAFF positive B cells were identified by staining with green fluorophore. CXCR4 positive B cells have a grey color. 4′6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (blue) was used to counterstain the nuclei. The final panel in each row is a merged file of CD20, BAFF and CXCR4 staining. In both the WT and Cftr ^−/− images the magnification is 60X. The images shown are representative of LFs in Cftr ^−/− mice (n = 8) and WT controls (n = 4). Cftr ^−/− and WT lung b Lymphoid follicles and c B cells were quantified. Mann-Whitney U test was used to perform the statistical analysis (b-c). Box plots show the median values and 25th and 75th percentiles, and error bars show the 10th and 90th percentiles. **p ≤ 0.005, Cftr ^−/− mice versus WT