Fig. 1

Increased EGR2 mRNA expression in human and murine lupus cells. (a) RT-qPCR analysis of EGR2 mRNA expression in human lupus and healthy control PBMCs samples. The graph shows means ± SEM (n = 4 each). (b) RT-qPCR analysis of EGR2 mRNA expression in whole splenocytes of 5 weeks old (representing pre-disease stage), 15 weeks old (representing disease stage) MRL-lpr and age-matched control MRL mice. The graph shows means ± SEM (n = 3 each). (c) EGR2 mRNA expression in purified splenic CD4⁺ T cells of 14–15-week-old MRL-lpr and control MRL mice. The graph shows means ± SEM (n ≥ 4). (d) EGR2 mRNA expression in purified splenic CD4⁺ T cells of disease B6-lpr (18-week-old) and B6.sle123 (27–32-week-old) mice, and control B6 mice (27–32-week-old). The graph shows means ± SEM (n ≥ 3). Unpaired student t-tests were performed (lupus patients vs heathy controls, MRL vs MRL-lpr). *, p < 0.05, and ***, p < 0.001. One-way ANOVA with Tukey- Kramer all pair’s comparisons were performed for statistical analysis of multiple groups (b and d). The groups that were not connected with the same letter were significantly different in their means