Fig. 6

BCL-6 knockdown alleviates the self-reactivity of SLE CD4⁺ T cells. a Relative CD40L, ICOS, and IL-21 mRNA levels in SLE CD4⁺ T cells transfected with BCL-6 interference plasmid or negative control were assessed by real-time PCR and normalized to the mRNA levels of GAPDH. b, c CD40L and ICOS expression levels in SLE CD4⁺ T cells transfected with BCL-6 interference plasmid or negative control were analyzed by western blotting. One representative blot is shown (b). The intensities of the bands were semiquantitated and normalized to that of the band for GAPDH c. d SLE CD4⁺ T cells transfected with BCL-6 interference plasmid or negative control. The concentrations of IL-21 in the cell culture supernatant after 48 h post-transfection were measured by ELISA. e SLE CD4⁺ T cells were transfected with BCL-6 interference plasmid or negative control, and the transfected cells were co-cultured with purified autologous B cells, following which IgG levels in the culture supernatants were measured by ELISA. Data represent the mean of three independent experiments per group (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01)