iNKT Cell Activation Exacerbates the Development of Huntington’s Disease in R6/2 Transgenic Mice

Figure 1

HD onset in R6/2 Tg mice is associated with reduced levels of iNKT cells. (a) Both clasping test and (b) body weight were evaluated from WT littermates and R6/2 Tg mice at 4 or 12 weeks of age. (c-d) Spleens were prepared from R6/2 WT littermates or R6/2 Tg mice at 4 or 12 weeks of age, and the spleen weight and splenocyte number were evaluated. (e) The frequency, (f) cell number, (g) surface CD69 expression, and (h) subsets in splenic iNKT cells (α-GalCer/CD1d-dimer⁺CD3⁺) were determined by flow cytometry. The mean (; n indicates the number of mice per group in the experiment; Student’s -test; , , and ) are shown (ns: not significant). Two-way ANOVA (genotype × time) showed an interaction between these two factors ( and ).

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