Fig. 3

A–D Effects of cell interactions with stromal cells from different origins on activation markers. PBMCs were cultured alone or in co-culture with synoviocytes or with non-lesional (NLSF) or lesional skin fibroblasts (LSF) at a 5:1 ratio for 48 h, in the presence or absence of PHA (5 μg/ml). At 48 h, cells were recovered and stained for CD3, CD4, CD69, and CD86 before cytometer analysis. The gate was done on PBMCs. “*” 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, Mann-Whitney test. n = 3 experiments