Figure 1.

Phenotypic analysis of TEC subsets in female and male mice during aging. (A) Gating strategy identifying thymocytes and TECs in 4-week-, 7-week-, and 8-month-old female and male C57BL/6J mice. UEA-1 and MHCII were used to further segregate TECs into cTEC^lo, cTEC^hi, mTEC^lo, and mTEC^hi subpopulations. Proliferative cells were identified based on fluorescence exceeding Ki-67 isotype levels. (B) Total thymocyte cellularity. (C) Total TEC cellularity. (D) Representative contour plots depicting proportional changes in TEC subsets in relation to gender with aging. (E) Proportion of cTEC^lo, cTEC^hi, mTEC^lo, and mTEC^hi subpopulations. (F) Proportion of Ki-67⁺ cells within TEC subsets. (G) Representative contour plots depicting proportional changes in Aire⁺ mTEC subpopulations in relation to gender with aging. (H) Proportion and number of Aire⁺ mTECs per thymus, and Aire⁺ mTEC/thymocyte ratio. (I) Representative contour plots depicting proportional changes in Aire⁺ cTEC subpopulations in relation to gender with aging. (J) Proportion and number of Aire⁺ cTECs per thymus, and Aire⁺ cTEC/thymocyte ratio. Data presented as mean + SEM (n ≥ 3). * vs. 4 wk, ^∧ vs. 7 wk, ⁺ vs. Female (age matched). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001, ordinary two-way ANOVA with Tukey's multiple comparisons.