Fig 2. Overexpression of HIF-1α-dPA in BMDCs results in impaired induction of immune pathology.

(a) Experimental overview of the RIP-gp BMDC vaccination model. BMDCs were harvested following 8 days of culture, stimulated with ODN 1826 CpG, pulsed with LCMV gp peptides, and given intravenously into RIP-gp mice. (b) Blood glucose measurements of RIP-gp mice receiving gp-peptide pulsed, unstimulated or CpG-stimulated, WT or HIF-1α-Tg BMDCs (n = 3 mice per group; data representative of three independent experiments). (c) Cumulative diabetes incidence in RIP-gp mice receiving B6 or HIF-1α-Tg, CpG-stimulated, gp peptide-pulsed BMDCs. Data are representative of 20–25 mice per group. (d) Representative CD8⁺ staining of pancreatic sections 6 days following BMDC administration (10X magnification). (e) Quantification of pancreatic CD8⁺ infiltration in RIP-gp mice. C57BL/6 or HIF-1α-Tg BMDCs were administered to RIP-gp mice and 6 days later, the pancreas was snap-frozen and processed for histology. CD8⁺ staining was quantified using positive pixel detection. *P ≤ 0.05; n.s.: not significant. Error bars represent S.D. For (c), a log-rank (Mantel-Cox) test was used to determine significance, and for (e), a two-way ANOVA was performed with Tukey’s test for multiple comparisons.