Astrocytes alone are sufficient to induce Th1 cell production.

<p>(A) CD4⁺ T cells were cultivated for 4 days on no feeder cells or on a monolayer of astrocytes. (B) CD4⁺ T cells were cultivated for 4 days on no feeder cells, on a monolayer of astrocytes, or on irradiated splenocyte feeder cells with 10 µg/mL anti-IL-4. (C) CD4⁺ T cells were cultivated for 4 days on no feeder cells, on a monolayer of astrocytes, or on irradiated splenocyte feeder cells with 10 µg/mL anti-IL-4 and 10 ng/mL IL-12. (A–D) IFNγ-producing, Foxp3 expressing and IL-17A-producing CD4⁺ T cells were analyzed by flow cytometry after restimulation with ionomycin/PMA/BFA for 4 h. Flow cytometry analyses were quantified and expressed as mean ± s.e.m. (for the data in D: n = 4–8, Mann-Whitney test, *p<0.05 compared with cells incubated without anti-IL-12). (E, F) CD4⁺ T cells were cultivated for 4 days on a monolayer of astrocytes or on irradiated splenocyte feeder cells with 10 µg/mL anti-IL-4, with or without 5 ng/mL TGFβ. Foxp3-expressing cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. Flow cytometry analyses were quantified and expressed as mean ± s.e.m. (n = 4, Mann-Whitney test, *p<0.05 compared with cells incubated without TGFβ).