Fig. 3: Adiponectin-expressing thymocytes are tTreg precursors.

a EGFP⁺ cells collected from the thymus of Adn-Cre/ROSA^mT/mG mice were injected [30000 cells/mouse via tail vein] into WT or AKO recipient mice, which were subjected to a sub-lethal 5 Gy γ-radiation. At 12 h after adoptive transfer, cell suspensions were prepared from the thymus of the recipient mice for visualizing the EGFP⁺ cells (left) and immunofluorescence staining for adiponectin protein (right). b At one day after cell injection, flow cytometry was performed to analyze the distribution of EGFP⁺ cells in the thymus of WT (left) and AKO (right) recipient mice, after staining with antibodies recognizing CD117, CD25, CD4, and CD8. c At 15 days after injection, flow cytometry was performed to analyze the distribution of EGFP⁺ cells in the thymus of WT (left) and AKO (right) recipient mice, after staining with antibodies recognizing CD4, CD8, CD25, and Foxp3. d The percentage contents and total numbers of EGFP⁺ cells in the thymus of WT or AKO recipient mice were calculated based on flow cytometric results at day one and 15 after adoptive transfer. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. *, P < 0.05 and **, P < 0.01 vs corresponding WT controls (n = 6 biologically independent samples from different animals of independent experiment).