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Figure 4 | Cell Communication and Signaling

Figure 4

From: Signal transduction in primary human T lymphocytes in altered gravity – results of the MASER-12 suborbital space flight mission

Figure 4

CD3 and IL-2 receptor surface-expression of T lymphocytes exposed to different gravity conditions measured by FACS-analysis. Non-activated and Concanavalin A (ConA)/CD28-activated CD4+ T lymphocytes were exposed to altered gravity. A and B. Samples were stained against surface-CD3 and analyzed by FACS; data are expressed as relative fluorescence intensity (RFI). A: Non-activated T lymphocytes exposed to microgravity (μg) showed a significant reduction of CD3 surface expression in comparison to the cells of the flight hardware samples on ground (H/W). B: ConA/CD28 activated (+) T lymphocytes at 1g (on-board reference centrifuge) showed a significantly higher expression of CD3 compared with the cells of the baseline (BL) samples, while the μg samples did not show a significant higher level compared to BL samples. In hardware (H/W) controls the CD3 signal was higher than in BL samples, while culture control (CC) samples showed the highest signal of all experimental groups. Medians and interquartile ranges are shown (* p < 0.1, ** p < 0.05, ns = not significantly different, two-tailed Mann–Whitney-U-Test). C and D. Samples were stained against surface-IL-2R and analysed by FACS; data are expressed as relative fluorescence intensity (RFI). C: Non-activated (−) T lymphocytes exposed to microgravity (μg) showed a significant reduction of IL-2R in comparison to the cells of the flight hardware on ground (H/W). D: ConA/CD28 activated (+) T lymphocytes at 1g conditions (on-board reference centrifuge) (1g) showed a significantly higher expression of IL-2R compared with the cells of the baseline (BL) samples. In hardware (H/W) samples the IL-2R signal was higher than in the BL samples. No significant difference was found between culture controls (CC) and H/W samples. Medians and interquartile ranges are shown (* p < 0.1, ** p < 0.05, ns = not significantly different, two-tailed Mann–Whitney-U-Test).

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