Figure 7.

NKT cells are skewed to pro-fibrotic type I subpopulation by MIF. NKT cells were isolated from the spleen from untreated, 10 weeks old, male Mif^−/− mice. NKT cells were isolated via one negative and one positive selection with the MACS separator. Isolated cells were stimulated in vitro with 50 ng/mL of recombinant, murine MIF and as positive control with 20 pg/mL IL-12 for 24 h. After stimulation, mRNA analysis was performed to determine the expression levels of type I NKT cell marker (A) Fasl and (B) Opn. The expression levels of (C–E) Interleukins and Tgf-β (F), which is expressed by type I NKT cells, are also determined by qRT-PCR after MIF stimulation. Experiments were performed two times with four technical replicates. Asterisks indicate statistical significance: * p < 0.05.