CD127⁺ NK cells are found in athymic mouse LNs. (A) NK cells in the LNs, spleen (SP), BM, and liver of WT B6 mice and Foxn1-KO (nude) B6 mice were identified by flow cytometry as CD3⁻NKp46⁺ (gated by rectangles in dot plots) The numbers show average (± SD) percentages of cells within the gates. The expression of CD127 on NK cells is shown by histograms. The numbers above and below the bars show the percentages of CD127⁺ NK cells in B6 and nude mice, respectively. (B) NK cells in the LNs of B6 and nude mice were identified by CD3⁻NK1.1⁺ (top) or CD3⁻CD49b⁺ (bottom) as shown by rectangles in dot plots, and CD127 expression on NK cells is shown in histograms. Histogram of B6 (thin line) and nude (bold line) are overlaid. The numbers above the bars in the histograms show the percentages of NK cells expressing CD127 (± SD) in B6 mice and below the bars are those in nude mice. (C) NK cells in the LNs of B6 and nude mice were gated as CD3⁻NKp46⁺, and the dot plots show the coexpression of CD127 and the indicated surface markers. The numbers above the bars in the dot plots show the percentages (± SD) of NK cells expressing both CD127 and the indicated marker, and the numbers below the bars show the percentages (± SD) of CD127⁻ NK cells expressing the indicated marker. Results are representative of ≥ 3 individual experiments.