FIG 3.

Transfection with sh-IKKβ using lentiviral infection reduced the mRNA expression of foxp3, ctla4, and tgf-β1 in CD4⁺ CD25⁺ T_regs stimulated with LPS with or without rSema3A (a). Shown are statistical figures and representative immunofluorescence images of Foxp-3 (b, e) and CTLA-4 (c, e) expression at the protein level, the apoptotic level of CD4⁺ CD25⁺ T_regs (d, e), the secretion levels of IL-10 and TGF-β1 (f), the proliferation of CD4⁺ CD25^– T cells when cocultured with CD4⁺ CD25⁺ T_regs (g), and the methylation of foxp3-TSDR (h, i). (e, i) 1: control; 2: LPS; 3: LPS + IKKβ; 4: LPS + sh-control; 5: LPS + sh-IKKβ + rSema3A; 6: LPS + sh-control + rSema3A. Data are presented as means ± SD (n, 4 per group). Asterisks indicate significance (*, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01) by one-way ANOVA.