Inhibition of OXPHOS rapamycin T cells by oligomycin induces high levels of ROS and hyperpolarization of mitochondrial membrane.

<p>P14 CD44^loCD8⁺ T_N were stimulated <i>in vitro</i> with B6-derived DCs pulsed with gp33 plus IL-2, in the absence or presence of rapamycin (100 nM). Six days later, cells were collected, and washed three times and seeded in secondary cultures in the absence IL-2, with or without addition of oligomycin, or with or without addition of NAC. (A) Cells were collected 2 hours after culture. Histograms show the ROS levels measured by flow cytometry and the graphs show the mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of ROS. (B) Graphs show the live cell number of T cells in the secondary culture 24 hours after culture in the absence of IL-2 with or without NAC treatment. (C) Histograms show ΔΨm determined by flow cytometry and the graphs show the MFI. Data are shown as means ± SD and representative of three independently performed experiments. *<i>p</i><0.05, significant difference.