SUMOylation-deficient WASp favors paradoxical development of TH17-like phenotype in TH1-skewed cells. (A) mRNA expression profiles of TH1 and TH17 genes in WASnull TH cells reconstituted with SUMOylation-deficient mutants, normal wt-WASp (FL), or untransfected (UT) control quantified by RT-PCR. The displayed values (mean ± SEM) are fold change (up or down) in TH1 or TH17 cells compared with values obtained in TH0 cells after normalizing to GAPDH. The data are representative of 2 biologic replicates each with 3 samples assayed. (B) Flow cytometry displaying protein expression of some representative TH1/TH17 genes in the same cells and mutants described in A. Geometric mean (GM) is displayed underneath individual histograms. Horizontal dotted lines demarcate background fluorescence obtained with control immunoglobulin-fluorescein isothiocyanate/phycoerythrin staining. (C) A 2 × 2 table summarizing the key findings of this figure. ↑, increased expression compared to Th0 non-skewed cells; NEM−, NEM nontreated.
