Figure 7. Treg cells from LepR-deficient Leprdb/db mice have reduced mTOR activation concomitantly with a higher proliferative capacity.
Immunoblot for FoxP3 (A), P-mTOR, P-p70S6K, P-S6 (B), and P-ERK and p27Kip1 (C) in Treg cells from Leprdb/+ lean controls and leptin-receptor deficient Leprdb/db mice stimulated or not with anti-CD3 plus anti-CD28 for 1h. One representative out of four independent experiments. (D) Proliferation of Treg cells from Leprdb/+ and Leprdb/db mice, stimulated or not with anti-CD3 plus anti-CD28 mAb. The data are shown as mean ± SD (n = 10, *p < 0.0001). (E) P-S6 expression in Treg cells from Leprdb/+ (black line) or Leprdb/db (red line) mice in the presence or absence of anti-CD3 plus anti-CD28 in 36h culture. Representative of three independent experiments. The gray histogram represents the isotype-matched negative control. (F) P-S6 mean fluorescence intensity in both strains of mice with or without anti-CD3 plus anti-CD28 stimulation and (G) fold change in P-S6. (*p < 0.01 when compared with unstimulated cells). Leprdb/db mice had a much higher P-S6 induction than heterozygote controls during proliferation. Representative of three independent experiments.