Figure 5: Androgen protects against EAE in an Aire-dependent manner.

(a) Relative MOG mRNA expression in sorted WT and Aire-deficient (Aire^GW/+) mTECs was determined by quantitative RT–PCR. Four mice were pooled per group, and data shown are representative of at least two independent experiments. (b) Average clinical EAE scores of WT (left) or Aire^GW/+ (right) male mice implanted with DHT pellets or sham operated following immunization with MOG₃₅₋₅₅ peptide. n=5 in each group. Shown is representative of three independent experiments. (c) Representative Luxol Fast Blue-PAS-stained lumbar spinal cord sections from WT (top panels) or Aire-deficient Aire^GW/+ (bottom panels) mice treated with placebo (sham) or DHT pellet collected 35 days after MOG immunizations (n≥5 for each group). Box in × 4 image indicates area shown in × 10 image. Arrows indicate inflammatory foci with demyelination. Scale bar, 200 μm (× 4); 100 μm (× 10). (d) Mean numbers of inflammatory foci and demyelinated area in WT and Aire^GW/+ mice treated with placebo (−) or DHT pellet. (e) Concentrations of IL-2 and IL-17 cytokine in supernatants of splenocytes cultured in the presence of increasing amounts of MOG₃₅₋₅₅ peptide. Splenocytes were isolated from WT or Aire^GW/+ mice treated with DHT or sham at day 35 after EAE induction. Unpaired Student’s t-test was used in all data sets, except for survival curves in which Mann–Whitney U-test was utilized. Error bars represent s.e.m. *P<0.05. NS, not significant.