Figure 1

Detection of CD4⁺ CD8^- CD25⁺ CD44⁺ and CD4 ⁺ CD8^- CD25⁺ CD44^- T _reg cells in the thymus. (A) Cell gating strategy and staining patterns. Thymocytes were obtained from naïve C57BL/6 mice and stained with specific antibodies against CD4 (Cy7-PE), CD8 (FITC), CD44 (PE), and CD25 (APC-Alexa Fluor755). Cells in P1 were gated as live thymocytes. (B) Based on CD44 and CD8 expression, CD4⁺CD8^-CD25⁺CD44⁺ and CD4⁺CD8^-CD25⁺CD44^- cells were defined. (C) Foxp3 expression in CD4⁺CD8^-CD25⁺CD44⁺ and CD4⁺CD8^-CD25⁺CD44^- cells. The data are shown as the percentage of total, live thymocytes (population P1) in each cell subset, and are presented as mean ± S.D. from four independent experiments.