Fig. 2

Impaired double-strand breaks repair in quiescent SLE patients. a Typical images showing the γH2AX staining at different time points after treatment of PBMCs from one representative healthy control (HC) and one quiescent systemic lupus erythematosus (QSLE) patient after treatment with melphalan. Cell nuclei labeled with DAPI, γH2AX staining, as well as merged DAPI and γH2AX staining are shown. 0/0 no treatment. Formation of γH2AX foci (b) and total amounts of γH2AX foci expressed as AUC (c) after treatment of PBMCs from QSLE and lupus nephritis (LN) patients as well as from 12 HC with melphalan. The asterisks indicate significant differences (p < 0.05) between QSLE and LN patients. NSD no significant difference. d Typical images showing the Rad51 staining at different time points after treatment of PBMCs from one representative HC and one QSLE patient with melphalan. Cell nuclei labeled with DAPI, Rad51 staining, as well as merged DAPI and Rad51 staining are shown. 0/0 no treatment. Formation of Rad51 foci (e) and total amounts of Rad51 foci expressed as AUC (f) after treatment of PBMCs from QSLE patients and their matched HC with melphalan. The experiments shown were based on a minimum of three independent repeats and the data reported are the mean ± SD of all subjects analyzed