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Fig. 1 | Arthritis Research & Therapy

Fig. 1

From: Prostaglandin receptor EP4 expression by Th17 cells is associated with high disease activity in ankylosing spondylitis

Fig. 1

EP4 is overexpressed in Th17 cells from patients with ankylosing spondylitis. a, b Representative examples of flow cytometry analysis of EP4 expression. CD4+ T cells from the peripheral blood of patients with AS were purified using MACS technique, cultured under Th17-skewing conditions for 4 days and analyzed for the expression of IL-17, IFNγ, and EP4 (histogram: negative control = blue, EP4 expression = red). c Ex vivo flow cytometry analysis of Th17 cell frequencies and d ex vivo EP4 expression in Th17 cells from healthy controls (HC) and from patients with AS, RA, or PsA (HC n = 5, AS n = 14, RA n = 9, PsA n = 5; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01; p value calculated using Mann-Whitney test). e RT-PCR analysis of PGE2 receptor genes in Th17 cells from patients with AS. Th17 cells were generated from naïve CD4+CD45RA+ T cells under Th17 skewing conditions (n = 15; **p < 0.01; p value calculated using Kruskal-Wallis test). The values are represented as the difference in Ct values normalized to β2-microglobulin for each sample using the following formula: relative RNA expression = (2-dCt) × 103. f Percentage of IL-17-positive CD4+ T cells after 4 days of in vitro cell culture under Th17-skewing conditions (HC n = 11; AS n = 15; RA n = 12; **p < 0.01,***p < 0.001; p value calculated using Mann-Whitney test). g EP4 expression in Th17 cells (HC n = 12, AS n = 14, RA n = 7; *p < 0.05; p value calculated using Mann-Whitney test) and h EP2 expression in Th17 cells (HC n = 11, AS n = 13, RA n = 15 *p < 0.05, p value calculated using Mann-Whitney test) was assessed by flow cytometry in CD4+ T cells cultured under Th17-skewing conditions for 4 days. The percentage and the mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of cells are expressed as mean ± SEM

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