Fig. 1

Effects of cell interactions with stromal cells from different origins on Th17/Th1 cytokine production. PBMCs were cultured alone or in co-culture with synoviocytes (A) or with non-lesional (NLSF) or lesional skin fibroblasts (LSF) (B) at a 5:1 ratio for 48 h, in the presence or absence of PHA (5 μg/ml). Stromal cells (synoviocytes (A); skin fibroblasts (B)) were also cultured alone for 48 h in the presence or absence of PHA (5μg/ml). Production of IL-6, IL-1β, IL-23, IL-17, IL-12, and IFNγ in cell supernatants was measured by ELISA. “*” compares the condition of culture (PBMCs alone vs. co-culture) in control or in PHA-treated condition. “#” compares the activation state (control or PHA) in the same condition culture. *^#p < 0.05, Wilcoxon test. n = 7 experiments for PBMCs and co-cultures and n = 6 for stromal cells alone