Figure 2: PSA triggers specific signal on CD4 T cells via TLR2 under inflammatory conditions.

WT and TLR2^KO mice on IL-10 Thy1.1 reporter strain (10BiT) background were orally gavaged with PSA or PBS, and induced with optimal active EAE as in Fig. 1a setting. At the peak of disease, total leukocytes were isolated from CLNs. Flow cytometry analysis was performed to identify the specific CD4 T-cell marker(s) triggered by PSA in a TLR2-dependent manner. CD4 T cells were pre-gated and MFI was used to measure the expression level of the indicated markers. Mean±s.e.m. MFI values were compared between PSA- or PBS-treated WT or TLR2^KO mice. Depicted are representative results from two independent experiments (n=4 for each group). P-value was calculated by one-way analysis of variance test.