Fig. 2: Cellularity, NF-kB/STATs expression, and autophagy in thymus of C57Bl and mdx mice.

FACS analysis of thymus homogenate from mdx and C57Bl mice at 8 weeks of age demonstrates no significant alteration of T cells (a, b), and few differences in CD4−CD8−DN stages, in particular DN3 (CD44−CD25+) and DN4 (CD44+CD25+) (c). The number of TCRβ+CD69+ cells (d) and of Foxp3+CD25+ cells (e) was significantly increased in thymus of mdx mice. Cropped image of a representative WB and densitometric analysis revealed a downregulation of NF-kB, IKKi, and STAT3 in mdx thymus (f). RT-qPCR of p62 expression is shown in g. Autophagy markers such as Atg7, p62 and LC3 were also assessed by WB analysis. Representative WB image and quantification of LC3-II/LC3-I showed the impairment of the autophagic flux (h). All protein expression was normalized on actin, as a loading control. The comparisons between the averages of the groups were evaluated using two-sided Student’s t-test. c *p = 0.0177 (DN3), *p = 0.0351 (DN4). d *p = 0.043. e *p = 0.0332. f **p = 0.0048 (NF-κB), **p = 0.0018 (IKKi). h **p = 0.0026. Data are presented as mean ± SD of three independent experiments with n = 7 (mdx) and n = 5 (C57Bl) mice (a–e); n = 6 mice/group (f, h); n = 3 mice (mdx) and n = 6 mice (C57Bl) (g). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.