Fig. 7: Natural IELs promote the development of antigen-specific Tregs for OVA-induced oral tolerance through CD103⁺ DCs.

a Volcano map of differentially expressed genes (p value < 0.01 and Log₂ fold change >1) in small intestine lamina propria CD103⁺ DCs sorted from WT mice at steady conditions or after OVA gavage for 3 days. b, c Flow cytometry analysis of β8 expression in sorted small intestinal CD103⁺CD11b⁻ DCs from below mice (n = 4) treated with or without OVA for three days. WT mice and MS DKO mice that were first transferred without or with sgEV or sgTgfb1 natural CD8αα⁺ IELs (b); ND or PD pre-fed C57BL/6 mice that were first transferred without or with sgEV or sgTgfb1 natural CD8αα⁺ IELs (c). d–k Flow analysis of percentages of OVA-specific Tregs in the mesenteric lymph node (MLN) or small intestine lamina propria (SI LP) from below mice transferred with CD45.1⁺ OT-II cells, followed by orally treated with OVA or PBS for one week (n = 5). Representative flow plots and cell percentages were shown. WT and MS DKO mice (d, e); ND or PD pre-fed C57BL/6 mice (f, g); WT mice and MS DKO mice that were first transferred without or with sgEV or sgTgfb1 natural CD8αα⁺ IELs (h, i); ND or PD pre-fed C57BL/6 mice that were first transferred without or with sgEV or sgTgfb1 natural CD8αα⁺ IELs (j, k). Data are mean ± s.e.m. and from one experiment representative of two independent experiments. Statistics: two-tailed Student’s t test (b, c, e, j, i, k). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.