Figure 4. Autoreactivity and autoimmune manifestations in Dnase1l3^−/− mice are facilitated by type I interferon signaling.

Wild-type (WT), Dnase1l3^−/−, Ifnar1^−/− and Dnase1l3^−/− Ifnar1^−/− mice were examined for Abs at the indicated ages or at the 12 month endpoint.

(A and B) Serum anti-dsDNA (A) and anti-Nucleosome (B) IgG titers determined by ELISA.

(C and D) ELISpot analysis of the number of anti-dsDNA (C), and anti-nucleosome (D) antibody forming cells (AFCs) in bone marrow (BM) or spleen cells.

(E) Images of HEp-2 cells stained with sera to detect ANAs (representative of n≥ 5 per strain). Scale bars, 100 μm. Pie charts with numbers indicate distribution of ANA reactivity patterns in mice from each group.

(F) Quantitation of ANA fluorescence intensity.

(G-K) Images of kidney sections representative of ≥ 3 mice per group stained for IgG, (red) and C3 (green) and DAPI (blue). Scale bars, 40 μm, (G). Images of glomeruli from H&E-stained kidney sections, representative of ≥3 mice per group. Scale bars 20 μm (H). Quantitation of mean fluorescence intensity of C3 (I), and IgG deposits (J), and size of ≥ 20 glomeruli per kidney section (K) from 3–4 mice per strain.

In panels A-D and F, symbols represent individual mice. Panels I-K each symbol represents an individual glomerulus. All bars indicate median.

NS= not significant, * p ≤ 0.05, ** p ≤ 0.01, ***p ≤ 0.001 and **** p ≤ 0.0001.

See also Figure S4.