Figure 5

SRA is essential for myelin-specific CD4 ⁺ T-cell activation. WT mice were immunized with 150 μg MOG_35-55. After 10 days, the CD4⁺ T cells were separated using magnetic beads. The cells were cultured at a concentration of 3 × 10⁵ cells/well and stimulated with 20 μg/ml MOG_35-55. APCs from naïve WT or SRA^−/− mice were added to the cultures at a concentration of 7 × 10⁵ cells/well. (A) The CD4⁺ T cells were stained with CFSE and harvested for proliferation analysis using FACS after 24 h. There was a significant reduction in the ratio between divided and undivided CD4⁺ T cells, which were incubated with SRA^−/− APCs, as compared to WT APCs. (B) Cytokine secretion was measured by ELISA after 40 h. There was a significant reduction in the secretion of IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-17, IL-6 and IL-10 by SRA^−/− APCs cultures, as compared to WT cultures. Results are presented as means ± SEM (representative graphs, n = 5 in each of three different experiments.).