Figure 3.

SOE upregulated the level of CD25⁺CD4⁺FOXP3⁺ cells in spleen. The purified splenocytes (5–10 × 10⁵ cells) were surface-stained with anti-rat CD4-FITC/CD25-PE for 30 min on ice in darkness, then permeabilized and stained with anti-mouse/rat/human Foxp3-Alexa Fluor^® 647 for another 30 min. The acquisition of flow cytometry data and the analysis of a cell population of at least 1 × 10⁴ splenocytes were performed on flow cytometer with the BD FACSDiva Software (FACSCanto, BD Biosciences). (A) Representative images of flow cytometry for CD4⁺CD25⁺Foxp3⁺ regulatory T cells. (B) Quantification of the number of CD4⁺CD25⁺Foxp3⁺ regulatory T cells. (^###P < 0.001 vs. Ctrl group; ^***P < 0.001 vs. CIA group, n = 6).