Figure 1. Expression and induction of B55β is impaired in T cells from patients with systemic autoimmune diseases.

(A) Abundance of the B55β transcript was quantified in activated T cell blasts from healthy donors (HDs) and patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and Sjögren’s syndrome (SS), before (basal) and 48 hours after IL-2 withdrawal. Data are presented as median and quartiles (25th to 75th). Whiskers represent the 10th and 90th percentiles, and outliers are indicated by circles (HD basal vs. SLE basal P = 0.024; HD 48 hours vs. SLE 48 hours P = 0.002; HD 48 hours vs. SS 48 hours P = 0.012; Mann-Whitney U test) (HD n = 25; SLE n = 32; RA n = 28; SS n = 21). (B) Induction of B55β induced by IL-2 withdrawal (24 hours) is shown (HD basal vs. 24 hours P = 0.005; SLE basal vs. 24 hours P = 0.066; RA basal vs. 24 hours P = 0.064; SS basal vs. 24 hours P = 0.007, paired two-tailed t test) (HD n = 20; SLE n = 20; RA n = 21; SS n = 16). (C) The proportion of controls and patients with increased B55β expression after IL-2 withdrawal is shown. The number in the pie chart indicates the number of controls or patients included in the analysis. Under the corresponding pie chart, χ² of the distribution ratio (increase/no change/decrease) of HDs versus each autoimmune disease is indicated. IL-2 w, IL-2 withdrawal.