Figure 4

Frequency of splenic Foxp3 ⁺ -Treg in the periphery and mRNA expression of Foxp3 in the CNS after MOG-DNA vaccination. (A) Percentage of CD4⁺CD25⁺Foxp3⁺ Treg in the total CD4⁺ T cell population observed in spleens isolated from MOG- or pCi-treated mice (n = 6/group) at day 14 p.i. Frequency of Treg was determined by flow cytometry and bars represent mean percentage of positive cells (SEM). *p = 0.025 (Student’s t-test). (B) Foxp3 mRNA expression levels in CNS tissue from DNA vaccinated animals at day 14 after EAE induction. FoxP3 expression was determined by RT-PCR using Gapdh as endogenous control. Results are expressed as fold change in gene expression in MOG-DNA treated mice relative to plasmid control mice (calibrators). *p = 0.014 (Student’s t-test).