Figure 4.
Distinct regulation of coronary artery-infiltrating Th17 and Th1 cells. (A) T cells infiltrating atherosclerotic coronary arteries were stimulated with agonistic antibodies (α) to CD3 (0.1 μg/mL) and CD28 (1 μg/mL) for 48 hr in the presence of neutralizing antibodies to IL-17RA or IFN-γR1 vs. control IgG (10 μg/mL). Additionally, the effects of (B) TGF-β1 (10 ng/mL) or (C) IL-12 (20 ng/mL) plus IL-18 (100 ng/mL) were tested on atherosclerotic coronary arteries in the presence or absence of α-CD3/CD28 for 48 hr. Cytokines levels in the supernatant were measured by ELISA. Untreated coronary artery rings did not produce detectable cytokines (<7.8 pg/mL) and these results are not shown. The data are means±SEM (n=6-12) and are pooled from three independent experiments using arteries from different donors. *P<0.05 and **P<0.001, other treated groups vs. α-CD3/CD28 alone (ANOVA).