Fig. 2

The role of B cells from mice with collagen-induced arthritis (CIA-B cells) in effector T cell proliferation following collagen type II (CII)-specific stimulation, which is one possible cause of CIA development and aggravation. a Costimulator and major histocompatibility II (MHC II) expression on CIA-B cells was analyzed by flow cytometry. The mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of CD80, CD86 and MHC II on CD19⁺cells in spleen and lymph nodes (LNs) are shown. b, c The percentage of proliferative CD4⁺ carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester (CFSE)-labeled cells was detected by flow cytometry. d Supernatants were collected from each sample and the levels of pro-inflammatory factors (IL-17A, TNF-α and IL-6), which are closely related to arthritis progression, were evaluated using a cytometric bead array (CBA). At least five mice were included in each group. Bars show the means ± SEM of three independent experiments: *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 and ***P < 0.001 for the comparisons of the indicated groups using the unpaired t test. d day, FSC forward scatter