Phenotype of thymocyte development in tissue specific knockout of Bax and Bak using Cre/LoxP system. (A) Schematic representation of genomic organization of conditional knockout of Bax. (B) Number of thymocytes in wild-type and DKO mice (mean and SD; 5 animals per group). (C) FACScan (BD Biosciences) analysis of thymic subsets in both healthy and tumor containing LckCre⁺BaxBak DKO mice using α-CD4 and α-CD8 antibodies. (D) Absolute number of T-cell populations, DN, DP, and SP CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ in control and LckCre⁺BaxBak DKO mice. *P < .05, and **P < .001 (E) FACScan analysis of double negative populations from Cre⁻ (control) and Cre⁺ thymocytes are subdivided into DN1,DN2, and DN3 based on CD44 and CD25 staining. (F) The absolute numbers of T-cell populations in panel E. (G) Analysis of CD44⁺c-kit^high subsets (DN1) populations. (H) Absolute numbers of DN1c-kit^high, DN2, and DN3 populations.