Figure 3

Cytokine production by heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP)-A2 specific T cell clones (TCCs) from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and healthy controls (a) IFNγ production. Whereas IFNγ production of CD4+ and CD8+ TCCs derived from healthy controls was similar (mean ± SEM of 533 ± 148 for CD4+ versus 376 ± 312 for CD8+; p = not significant), IFNγ production by CD4 + TCCs from SLE patients was significantly higher than IFNγ production by patient derived CD8+ TCCs (500 ± 124 versus 40 ± 23 pg/ml; p < 0.003). (b) Ratio of IL-10/IFNγ secretion in hnRNP-A2 specific TCCs from SLE patients and controls. IL-10 secretion was measured in supernatants of 11 TCCs from SLE patients and 5 TCCs from healthy controls. IL-10 secretion largely exceeded IFNγ production in CD8+CD28- TCCs, which were all derived from SLE patients.