Figure 2.

DGCR8 is essential for germinal center formation. (A) DGCR8-bKO mice and Cre control animals were immunized with sheep red blood cells (SRBC) and analyzed one week later. (B) Flow cytometric analysis of splenic cells from DGCR8-bKO mice and Cre control animals treated in (A). GC B cells were defined as CD19⁺PNA⁺ and further subdivided into CD95⁺GL7⁺ and CD95^-GL7^low cells. Cell numbers were calculated for the whole spleen. n=6-7 mice per genotype. (C) Immunofluorescence microscopy of splenic cryosections from mice treated in (A). Sections were stained for IgD (red), PNA (blue), and Ki67 (yellow) to visualize the FO mantle zone (IgD⁺), as well as the light- and dark zone of the GC (PNA⁺ or Ki67⁺). Each dot represents a mouse and bars indicate the mean of all mice with the same genotype. The Mann-Whitney test was used for statistical analysis. *p<0.05.