Fig. 5: Deletion of Stat3 aggravates autoimmunity in Optn^ΔCD11c mice.

a Western blotting to verify the deficiency of OPTN and STAT3 in DKO DCs. n = 3 independent experiments. b Mean clinical scores of Ctrl, Optn^ΔCD11c and DKO mice (8-week-old, female) subjected to MOG_35–55-induced EAE. n = 8 independent animals, P_(Ctrl) = 5.1E−08, P_(DKO) = 1.6E−07. c (Upper) Luxolfast blue (LFB) staining of spinal cords from indicated EAE mice at day 20. Scale bars, 200 μm. (Lower) Immunofluorescent labeling of CC1 (green) and DAPI (blue) in the spinal cord of indicated mice at day 20. Scale bars, 20 μm. n = 3 independent animals. d The summary graphs of CC1⁺ cells in (c). n = 3 independent animals, P_(Ctrl) = 0.0003, P_(DKO) = 0.0003. e, f Frequency of Th1, Th17, Th2, and Treg cells in the spleen (SP) (e) and draining lymph nodes (DLN) (f) from indicated EAE mice on day 20 after immunization. n = 3 independent animals, P_(Ctrl) = 2.3E−05, P_(DKO) = 2.8E−05 of IFN-γ in (e); P_(Ctrl) = 0.0018, P_(DKO) = 0.0003 of IL-17 in (e); P_(Ctrl) = 0.0059, P_(DKO) = 0.0020 of IL-4 in (e); P_(Ctrl) = 7.1E−05, P_(DKO) = 1.5E−05 of Foxp3 in (e); P_(Ctrl) = 0.0002, P_(DKO) = 0.00102 of IFN-γ in (f); P_(Ctrl) = 0.0215, P_(DKO) = 0.0018 of IL-17 in (f); P_(Ctrl) = 0.0002, P_(DKO) = 3.2E−05 of IL-4 in (f); P_(Ctrl) = 0.0026, P_(DKO) = 0.0155 of Foxp3 in (f). Data are presented as means ± SD. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001. One-way ANOVA Tukey’s post hoc analysis. Source data are provided in Source data file.