Journal: mBio
Article Title: PCV2 infection induces the differentiation of Treg cells via the TGF-β/Smad3 pathway
doi: 10.1128/mbio.01366-25
Figure Lengend Snippet: ( A ) PCV2 infection induced Treg cell differentiation through the TGF-β/Smad3 pathway. Detection of the mRNA levels of IL-2 and TGF-β. PBMCs were isolated from peripheral blood at multiple time points post-challenge, and the mRNA expression levels were quantified by qPCR. ( B ) Detection of the expression levels of IL-2 and TGF-β. All animals were euthanized at 35 dpi, and cytokine levels were measured by ELISA. ( C ) The frequency of Treg cells. T cells were stimulated with various cytokines and analyzed for Treg cell frequency by flow cytometry. Unless otherwise specified, T cell stimulations lasted five days in vitro . ( D ) The MFI of Foxp3 in CD4 + Foxp3 + double-positive cells. Foxp3 expression in Treg cells was quantified by calculating the arithmetic MFI using flow cytometry. ( E ) The subcellular localization of Smad3 in Treg cells. ( F ) Detection of phosphorylation level of Smad3. Total proteins were extracted from T cells and analyzed by Western blot for target protein expression. ( G ) pGL3-promoter-Foxp3 schematic diagram. ( H ) The double luciferase assay. The assay was used to investigate the effect of Smad3 on the activity of the Foxp3 enhancer. ( I ) Quantification of Foxp3 mRNA expression levels. ( J ) The frequency of Treg cells. ( K ) The MFI of Foxp3 in CD4 + Foxp3 + double-positive cells.
Article Snippet: SIS3, a specific Smad3 phosphorylation inhibitor (HY-13013), and SB-431542, a TGF-β receptor inhibitor (HY-10431), were purchased from MedChemExpress.
Techniques: Infection, Cell Differentiation, Isolation, Expressing, Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay, Flow Cytometry, In Vitro, Phospho-proteomics, Western Blot, Luciferase, Activity Assay