Fig. 7

PD-L1 involvement in inflammatory microenvironment. A Immunohistochemical evaluation of PD-L1 in vivo revealing a strong labeling in pulpitis-affected dental pulp. Tonsil was used as a positive control. Scale bar: 50 µm. B PD-L1 expression was assayed by Western blot in DPSCs after co-culture with rPBMCs and aPBMCs isolated from rheumatoid arthritis patients (RA PBMCs). Histograms show a statistically significant higher expression of PD-L1 only in DPSCs after RA aPBMCs co-culture; ***P < 0.001 vs. DPSCs alone; ^§§§P < 0.001 vs. DPSCs after RA rPBMCs co-culture. C Western blot analyses of caspase 3 and PCNA in RA aPBMCs alone and after co-culture with DPSCs. Histograms reveal statistically significant differences in cleaved caspase 3 and PCNA expression in RA aPBMCs after DPSCs co-culture; *P < 0.05 vs. RA aPBMCs alone. SC consisted in cleaved-caspase 3 positive control. Data are expressed as mean ± SD and analyzed by one-way ANOVA followed by Newman-Keuls post-hoc test