Figure 6
The proliferative capacity of fetal invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells. Cell trace violet-labeled mononuclear cell suspensions from fetal small intestine, spleen, and adult peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were cultured with α-GalCer and interleukin (IL)-2, or IL-2 alone for 6–7 days. (a) Proliferation measured as cell trace violet-dilution in iNKT cells (upper panel) or CD1d-tet-Vα24+ non-iNKT cells (lower panel) at day 0 (dotted line), after 7 days of stimulation with α-GalCer and IL-2 (gray histogram), or IL-2 alone (open histogram). (b) Example of iNKT frequencies of CD3+ T cells at day 0 (upper panel), and at day 7 in the presence of IL-2 alone (middle panel) or with α-GalCer+IL-2 (lower panel). (c) Summary of frequencies of iNKT cells in fetal tissues and adult PBMC at day 0 and day 6/7 after stimulation with α-GalCer and IL-2. (d) Fold change in iNKT cell frequency (frequency at day 6 or 7/frequency at day 0). **P≤0.01.
