FIGURE 2.

Deletion of miR183 cluster (miR183C) interferes with iNKT cell maturation. (A) The developmental stages of thymic iNKT cells was assessed by examining the surface levels of CD24, CD44 and NK1.1 expression on gated iNKT cells. Identified Stage 0 (ST0) as TCRβ⁺CD1d-Tetramer⁺CD24⁺, ST1 as TCRβ⁺CD1d-Tetramer⁺CD24⁻CD44⁻NK1.1⁻, ST2 as TCRβ⁺CD1d-Tetramer⁺CD24⁻CD44⁺ NK1.1⁻ and ST3 as TCRβ⁺CD1d-Tetramer⁺CD24⁻ CD44⁺NK1.1⁺. (B) The summary of thymic iNKT cell frequencies (left) and absolute numbers (right) in the indicated developmental stages of miR183C KO mice. *, P<0.05, **, P<0.01 and *** P<0.001, compared with WT controls. (C) The maturation status of thymus iNKT cells was assessed by examining the surface expression of NK1.1, CD69 and CD122 on gated iNKT cells. CD69 and CD122 were further analyzed in the subsets of iNKT cells based on NK1.1 expression. Numbers adjacent to outlined areas indicate the percentage of indicated populations. (D) The summary of thymic iNKT cell frequency of NK1.1, CD69 and CD122 expression from miR183C KO mice, *, P<0.05, **, P<0.01 and *** P<0.001, compared with WT controls. (E) The maturation status of spleen iNKT cells was assessed by examining the surface expression of NK1.1, CD69 and CD122 on gated iNKT cells. Numbers adjacent to outlined areas indicate percent of indicated populations. (F) The summary of splenic iNKT cell frequencies of NK1.1, CD69 and CD122 expression from miR183C KO mice, *, P<0.05, **, P<0.01 and *** P<0.001, compared with WT controls. Data are from four independent experiments.