Fig. 6

MHC class II⁺ cells upregulate co-stimulatory molecule expression during EAU. Three weeks after adoptive transfer, the retinas were carefully dissected, cut into small pieces, and dissociated by enzymatic digestion. Naive eyes were used as control. The single-cell suspensions, excluding dead cells (DAPI+) were analyzed by flow cytometry for MHC class II, CD40, CD80, and CD86 expression using fluorochrome-conjugated specific antibodies. Data are from one representative mouse (clinical grade 3.75) out of four independent experiments involving eight independent EAU animals. Statistical analysis was performed using t tests, *p value <0.05, **p value <0.01, ***p < 0.001. a Gating on MHC class II⁺ (red gate) and MHC class II^hi (blue gate) cells. b Expression of co-stimulatory molecules by MHC class II⁺ cells. c Expression of co-stimulatory molecules by MHC class II^hi cells. d Histogram representation of the mean percentage of co-stimulatory molecule expression by MHC class II⁺ cells in naive versus EAU retinas. Mean ± SEM (unpaired t test). e Histogram representation of the mean percentage of co-stimulatory molecule expression by MHCII^hi versus MHC class II⁺ cells during EAU. Mean ± SEM (paired samples t test)