Figure 8: IL-6 promotes Th17 differentiation in adipose tissue of T-HGK cKO mice.

(a) Fasting IL-6 and (b) IL-17 levels in mouse sera were measured by ELISA assays. n=18–23. (c) The percentages of IL-6- and IL-17-producing, non-stimulated CD4+ T cells in the adipose tissue (AT), spleen (Sp), lymph nodes (LN) and peripheral blood (PB) of 10-week-old mice were analysed by flow cytometry. (d) The levels of indicated cytokines from adipose tissue of mice were determined by ELISA assays. (e) Contour plots show the percentages of IL-6- and IL-17-producing, non-stimulated CD4+ T cells from adipose tissue of mice at 2 days after IL-6 neutralization. n=5. (f) The levels of IL-6 and IL-17 from adipose tissue of mice at 2 days after IL-6 neutralization. Data shown are representatives of three (c) and two (e,f) independent experiments. Data are expressed as mean±s.e.m. WT, littermate controls (HGKf/f mice); HGK cKO, T-HGK cKO mice. *P-value<0.05; **P-value<0.01 (a,b, two-tailed Student’s t-test; d,f, two-tailed Mann–Whitney U-test).