Figure 3 - Recovery and activated phenotype of CD4⁺CD25⁺Foxp3⁺ thymocytes in Tgfbr1^f/fLck-Cre⁺ mice.

(a) Expression of CD25 and Foxp3 by gated CD4⁺CD8^- thymocytes from Tgfbr1^f/fLck-Cre⁺ mice (n = 11) and control mice (n = 13) at the age of 3–4 weeks. (b) Percent CD4⁺Foxp3⁺ thymocytes (mean s.d.) in the CD4⁺ population of the mice in a. ^*, P = 0.0011. 'Tgfbr1^+/+ or Tgfbr1^f/+Lck-Cre⁺' includes Tgfbr1^+/+Lck-Cre⁺ and Tgfbr1^f/+Lck-Cre⁺ control mice. Data are representative of three experiments. (c) CD25 expression by CD4⁺Foxp3⁺ thymocytes from 2- to 4-week-old Tgfbr1^f/fLck-Cre⁺ and control mice, presented as mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) s.d. of five mice (Tgfbr1^f/fLck-Cre⁺) or seven mice (control). ^*, P = 0.012. This experiment was repeated four times with similar results. (d) Expression of activation markers on gated CD4⁺Foxp3⁺ thymocytes. Data are from one representative mouse from each group of at least three mice; this experiment was repeated more than three times.