Fig. 4

mTEC-mediated central tolerance to self-CII is limited to the native epitope. a Four-week-old nude mice were grafted with neonate thymi from either WT or MMC donors (n = 5/group). Eleven weeks later, mice were immunized with rat CII and draining lymph node cells were re-stimulated in vitro with different CII peptides. b MMC-positive (n = 8) and MMC-negative (n = 6) nude mice were grafted with neonate thymi from wild-type donors. Eleven weeks later, recipients were immunized with rat CII and draining lymph node cells were re-stimulated in vitro with different CII peptides. Values shown are the mean ± SEM number of spots recorded for IFN-γ-producing and IL-17A-producing cells. p values were calculated using Mann–Whitney U test. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; NS not significant