Fig. 1

Cytokine-primed NSCs hinder lymph node cell (LNC) proliferation and cause premature CD44 downregulation. Unfractionated LNC were labelled with the vital dye CFSE, cultured on CD3/CD28 coated mAb in the absence or the presence of NSCs, Th1 NSCs, or Th2 NSCs for 48 and 72 h in vitro. a Cells were surface stained with anti-CD4 and CD44 antibodies. Dot plots depict relative CD44 and CFSE levels and are representative of gated CD4⁺ viable cells. b–d Absolute fractions of CFSE^dim (b), CFSE^dimCD44^low (c), and CFSE^dimCD44^high CD4⁺ T cells are shown (d). Data in b–d are expressed as mean % (±SD) and have been collected out of n ≥ 3 independent experiments. e Representative dot plots of relative CFSE and TO-PRO3 levels after gating on CD4⁺ T cells as in a–d. Unpaired two-tailed t test for comparisons between groups were applied; *p ≤ 0.05; **p ≤ 0.01; ***p ≤ 0.001 vs. LNC