IRF7-deficient splenic cDCs are hyper-responsive to a TLR2 agonist <i>in vitro</i>. A

<p>. CD11c^hi cDCs were sorted to <b>∼</b>99% purity from the spleens of C57BL/6 and B6.<i>Irf7</i>^−/− mice. Cells were cultured in triplicate at 1×10⁶ cells/ml in the presence of 10 µg/ml PAM₃CSK₄. At the indicated times post-stimulation, cells were removed and assessed by flow cytometry for expression of CD80, CD86 and MHCII. Representative flow plots showing progressive cDC activation in terms of CD86 and MHCII expression are shown in <b>B</b>, fold increases in surface expression of CD80, CD86 and MHCII on cDCs at the indicated time point over unstimulated cDCs are shown in <b>C</b>, <b>D</b> and <b>E</b>, respectively. <b>C</b>–<b>E</b> show mean fold increase ± SEM in surface expression of indicated proteins on cDCs from C57BL/6 (open bars) or B6.<i>Irf7</i>^−/−(closed bars) mice, compared to unstimulated cDCs from the same strain. Data are pooled from three individual experiments. * = p<0.05 ** = p<0.01, *** = p<0.001.