Figure 4

The effect of IL-7 withdrawal on T cell differentiation. Adult BM CD34⁺ HPCs were co-cultured on LmDL1-FL7 for 21 days and continued on LmDL-FL7 (IL-7 present) or transferred to LmDL-Flt3L (IL-7 deprived) for additional nine days. A, Growth curves for the developing T cells in the presence or absence of IL-7 after day 21. The cell growth declined markedly upon IL-7 removal at day 21 (depicted by open circles, data represents 4 independent experiments). B, Analysis of T cell markers in the T cell development cultures with or without IL-7 withdrawal after day 21. C, Summary of flow cytometry analysis of surface marker CD4CD8DP, CD4, and IL-7Ra in the developing T cells with (LmDL1-FL7) or without IL-7 (LmDL1-Flt3L), and p values were determined as shown.