Figure 5

Earlier onset of age dependent changes in CD3/CD5 phenotype and IL-10 induction in MTB mice. A) Spleen cells from 7 week old WT or MTB mice were stained with anti-CD4-FITC, anti-CD5-APC and anti-CD3-PerCP antibodies and analyzed by flow cytometry. Shown are overlay histograms of CD5 or CD3 expression in WT (plain line) and MTB (bold line) CD4⁺ cells. The numbers indicate mean fluorescence intensities. B) cDNAs obtained from 12 weeks old MTB or WT spleens served as templates for real time PCR using TCRβ-specific primers. Shown are means and standard errors of TCRβ mRNA relative to the 18S rRNA for triplicate reactions of each sample for two individual mice of each genotype. Total cellular RNA isolated from the spleens of MTB or WT mice was used to obtain cDNAs which served as templates for the real time PCR using IL-10-specific primers. Shown are means and standard errors of IL-10 mRNA quantities relative to the 18S rRNA for triplicate reactions of each sample. D) CD5 or CD3 expression in 10 months old WT (plain line) and MTB (bold line) CD4⁺ spleen cells labeled with anti-CD4-FITC, anti-CD5-APC and anti-CD3-PerCP antibodies. The numbers indicate mean fluorescence intensities.