Supplementary Figure 6: AhR limits autoimmunity in lupus prone mice.

(a,b) 8w-old R2B mice were treated with ITE and CH223191. After 8w of treatment splenocytes were assessed by cytometry analysis. (a) Cytometry plots gated on B220⁺ B cells measuring CD24. (b) Flow cytometry analysis of CD4⁺CD44^high and CD8⁺CD44^high T cell percentages. (c) 8w female R2B mice treated with ITE (AhR agonist), CH223191 (AhR antagonist), or vehicle for 4m. B6 mice were age/sex matched and treated with vehicle. IgG antinuclear antibody (ANA) reactivity was measured. Scale bar=50μm. (d) Immunoglobulin auto-reactivity against dsDNA and histones from the mice in c was measured by ELISA. (e) Kidneys were collected from mice in c, 5μm sections were stained with H&E and pathology of glomeruli and tubules was scored in a blinded manner. Scale bar=100μm. For all experiments n=5 biologically independent samples per group. For all graphs bars are mean values +/- standard deviation. *=P≤ 0.05, **=P≤ 0.01 and ns= not significant as determined by two-sided Student’s t-test. Experiments were repeated three times with similar results.