Fig. 2

TNFR2 expression by T cells is directly associated with the Foxp3 upregulation by MSCs. MSCs were co-cultured with six increasing doses (1:1 to 1:10) of WT and TNFR2 KO-T cells for a duration of 3 days. a Then, they were collected and analyzed by flow cytometry for the expression of the Foxp3 molecule. WT or TNFR2 KO CD3⁺CD25⁻ T cells were used as control T cells alone. The white columns depict WT or TNFR2 KO-T cells cultured alone. The black columns depict WT-T cells co-cultured with WT-MSCs, while gray columns represent TNFR2 KO-T cells co-cultured with WT-MSCs. b These FACS plots and histograms demonstrate our T cell gating strategy revealing a dose-dependent upregulation of the Foxp3 transcription factor among WT-T cells. Data are representative of two separate experiments (n = 8)