Figure 2.

Cell-intrinsic regulation of NK cell maturation by BACH2. (A) Schematic diagram of the generation of competitive mixed BM chimeras. (B) Expression of CD27 and CD11b (left) and percentage of NK cells of indicated phenotypes (right) within the CD45.2⁺ NK compartments from the spleens of WT:WT (black dots) or Bach2^−/−:WT (red dots) chimeras. (C) Representative histograms (left) and replicate measurements (right) of KLRG1 expression on NK cells from the splenic CD45.2⁺ populations of WT:WT or Bach2^−/−:WT chimeras. (D) Replicate measurements of Granzyme B expression (MFI) in spleen and lung NK cells gated from the CD45.2⁺ population of mixed BM chimeras. (E) PCR genotyping of sorted NK, T, and B cells from spleens of mice with the indicated genotypes. NK cells have cell-specific excision of Bach2 only in mice that also possess the Ncr1^iCre gene. (F) Flow cytometry analysis of the expression of Ly49 receptors in Bach2^fl/fl Ncr1^iCre+ animals and controls. (G) Representative plots of CD27 and CD11b expression (left) and percentage of NK cells of indicated phenotypes (right) within the spleens of conditional KO animals and relevant controls. (H) Representative histograms (left) and replicate measurements (right) of KLRG1 expression on NK cells from the spleens of mice of indicated genotypes. (I) Granzyme B expression (MFI) of splenic NK cells from mice of indicated genotypes. Numbers in gates indicate percentages. Data representative of two (A–E) and four (G–I) independent experiments with five to seven mice per group. ns, not significant (P > 0.05); *, P ≤ 0.05; **, P ≤ 0.01; ***, P ≤ 0.001; ****, P ≤ 0.0001. Unpaired two-tailed Student’s t test. Bars and error are mean and SEM.