Fig. 1. Mature DCs could return to the thymus.

A Bone marrow cells were isolated and cultured with GM-CSF (10 ng/ml) plus IL-4 (1 ng/ml) for 7 days. On day 7, imBMDCs were harvested and incubated with LPS (1 μg/ml). Subsequently, the cells were collected and stained with anti-CD11c and anti-CD11b antibodies. The expressions of CD11c and CD11b in BMDCs were assessed by FCM. B BMDCs were stained with anti-CD11c, anti-CD11b, anti-CD80, anti-CD86, and anti-MHC II antibodies. The expressions of CD80, CD86, and MHC II in CD11c⁺ CD11b⁺ cells were verified by FCM. C The carton showed that GFP⁺ mBMDCs (1.0 × 10⁷) were injected into wild-type mice via the caudal vein. D CD11c⁺ GFP⁺ cells from the thymus of recipients were analyzed by FCM. All data are from three independent experiments. Representative figures of these three experiments are shown.