Involvement of Dendritic Cells and Th17 Cells in Induced Tertiary Lymphoid Structures in a Chronic Beryllium Disease Mouse Model

Figure 6

DCs are critical for maintenance of TLSs in the lung of CBD mice. (a) Cytospin analysis of BAL fluid CBD mice, analysed by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, showing that nibbling cells around beryllium particles were seen in mice in which DCs were present (DC⁺), but not in mice in which DCs were depleted using the CD11c-DTR system (DC^-) 8 weeks after initial exposure (bar, 20 μm). (b) Lung tissue sections showing the presence of TLSs with perivascular and peribronchial infiltrates (DC⁺, left), but only residual cells are seen as small diffuse infiltrates in lung tissue from DC-depleted mice (DC^-, right) (bar upper panel 100 μm; lower panel 50 μm). (c, d) Quantification of cellular inflammation of the indicated cell types (c) or cytokine production by CD4⁺ T cells (d) in BAL fluid from DC⁺ (white bars) and DC-depleted (DC^-, black bars) CBD mice. The results shown are expressed as the and represent one out of two independent experiments with 5-6 mice per group. Mann-Whitney test: , , and .

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