Gene expression profiles of thymic stromal cells in MafB-deficient mice. (A) Quantitative RT-PCR analysis of indicated genes in CD45⁻IA⁻PDGFRα⁺ thymic mesenchymal cells (Ms) and CD45⁻IA⁺ thymic epithelial cells (Ep) isolated from E14.5 C57BL/6 embryonic thymus. mRNA levels were normalized to GAPDH mRNA levels and are indicated as the ratios of the levels in Ms cells to the levels in Ep cells. Shown are geometric means (bars) and standard errors (lines) of 3 independent measurements. The genes are aligned according to the values of the ratios. In this list, genes that are more than 10 times more strongly detectable in Ms cells than in Ep cells are categorized as Ms genes. Genes that are not more than 10 times different in Ms cells and Ep cells are categorized as Ms and Ep genes. Genes that are more than 10 times more strongly detectable in Ep cells than in Ms cells are categorized as Ep genes. (B) Quantitative RT-PCR analysis of indicated genes in microdissected 3PP tissues from either E11.5 MafB-deficient (MafB-KO) or wild-type mice (WT). mRNA levels were normalized to GAPDH mRNA levels and are indicated as the ratios of the levels in MafB-KO 3PP to the levels in WT 3PP. Data are means and standard errors of 5 separate measurements. (C,D) Quantitative RT-PCR analysis of indicated genes in CD45⁻IA⁺ thymic epithelial cells (C) and CD45⁻PDGFRα⁺ thymic mesenchymal cells (D) isolated from E15.5 MafB-deficient (MafB-KO) or wild-type mice (WT). mRNA levels were normalized to GAPDH mRNA levels and are indicated as the ratios of the levels in MafB-KO samples to those in WT samples. Data are means and standard errors of 4 separate measurements. ***P < .001; **P < .01; *P < .05.