Figure 2: Increased proportion of T_FH and GC B cells in Cic^f/fVav1-Cre mice.

(a–c,f) Flow cytometry analyses of non-T_FH, T_FH and GC T_FH cells (a), CD4⁺BCL6⁺CXCR5⁺ T_FH cells (b), CD4⁺ICOS⁺ T cells (c) and GC B cells (f) in spleen from 9-week-old Cic^f/f (WT) and Cic^f/fVav1-Cre (cKO) mice. All data are representative of three independent experiments with n=4–5 mice per group in each experiment. Numbers adjacent to outlined areas indicate per cent of each cell population among splenic CD4⁺ or B220⁺ cells. Data are presented as box-and-whisker plots. *P<0.05, **P<0.01 and ***P<0.001 (two-tailed two-sample unequal variance student t-test). (d) Mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of BCL6 expression in CD4⁺PD-1⁺CXCR5⁺ T_FH cells from 9-week-old Cic^f/f and Cic^f/fVav1-Cre mice. n=3 mice per each genotype. (e) Flow cytometry analysis of IL-21, IL-4 or IFNγ-expressing T_FH cells in spleen of 9-week-old Cic^f/f and Cic^f/fVav1-Cre mice. The proportions of each cytokine-expressing T_FH cells are presented. (d,e) n=3 mice per each genotype. The bar graphs show data as mean±s.e.m. **P<0.01 (two-tailed two-sample unequal variance Student t-test).