Figure 2: Depletion of CD11c-expressing cells protects from IL-23-induced changes.

(a) Ear thickness for CD11c-DTR mice treated without (−DT) or with (+DT) diphtheria toxin and injected in the ears with IL-23 as shown. PBS was injected into the ears of appropriate control mice at the same times as IL-23 (not indicated). (b) Skin histology on day 6. Scale bar, 200 μm. (c) Epidermal thickness of ear skin on day 6. (d) Expression of ear mRNAs encoding proteins as indicated versus Gapdh mRNA on day 6. (e) Flow cytometry plots of cells prepared from IL-23-injected ears on day 6 following treatment of the cells ex vivo with leukocyte-activating cocktail for 4 h, surface staining for CD45, CD3ɛ, γδTCR and βTCR, and intracellular staining for IL-17A and IL-22. Only CD45⁺ CD3ɛ⁺ cells are shown. Numbers indicate percentages of cells within the quadrants, and quadrants are based on staining with isotype-matched control antibodies. (f) Frequencies of the T cells expressing IL-22 and/or IL-17A from day 6 ears. The cells were activated and stained as in e. The data are displayed from one experiment representative of four with a minimum of 16 mice total in each group (a; mean±s.d.; pairwise statistical comparison was done between IL-23-injected mice±DT on day 6, using mice from all the experiments); or one experiment representative of two (b); or two experiments with a total of five PBS (±DT) and six IL-23 (±DT) mice (c); or two experiments with a total of six mice per group (d); or one experiment representative of five (e); or three experiments with a minimum of six mice total per group (f). The data are presented as mean±s.e.m. unless otherwise noted. NS, not significant; *P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001 (unpaired Student’s t-test).