Figure 9. miR-21 Promotes TD-Ag Driven GC Responses.

All data presented in panels A-L are from WT and miR-21KO mice at d10 post-immunization from 3 independent experiments with 3–5 mice per group. Except for histology, each data point represents one mouse (biological replicate). (A) Quantification of the number of B cells in the spleen. (B) Representative flow plots of the GC B cell (B220⁺GL-7^hiFas^hi) response. (C-D) Quantification of the (C) percentage GC B cells within the total B220⁺ population and the (D) total number of GC B cells. (E) Quantification of the number of CD4 T cells in the spleen. (F) Representative flow plots of the CD4⁺CXCR5^hiPD-1^hi Tfh response. (G-H) Quantification of the (G) percentage of Tfh within the total CD4 T cell population and the (H) total number of Tfh. (I) Representative flow plots for CXCR5^hiPD-1^hiFoxP3^- Tfh and CXCR5^hiPD-1^hiFoxP3⁺ Tfr cells within the total CD4⁺ T cells. Total numbers of (J) Tfh and (K) Tfr cells. (L) Representative images of spleen sections stained for GL-7 (green), CD4 (red), and IgD (blue) and quantification of GC responses by measuring the GC area. Scale bars represent 100μm. Data represent at least 7 mice per genotype. (M-N) Serum antibody titers of NP-specific IgG, IgG1 and IgG2a/c at (M) 10d and (N) 21d post-immunization with NP-KLH. Two group comparison was performed by Mann-Whitney analysis. ns, not significant, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, and ****p < 0.0001.