Figure 6. Effect of secoemestrin C on hepatic NKT cell and conventional T cell activation and proinflammatory cytokine secretion in Con A-challenged mice. Mice were sacrificed 8 h after Con A injection, and hepatic MNCs were prepared. (A, B) NKT cells as well as CD4+ and CD8+ conventional T cells were analyzed by flow cytometry for CD69 expression. Histogram with numbers (A) shows the mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of CD69 on every subset of the normal control (NC), Con A-treated, and Con A+SC10-treated groups. A summary bar graph (B) displays the CD69 levels on NKT cells as well as CD4+ and CD8+ conventional T cells. (C, D) Liver MNCs were cultured in medium with GolgiStop for a further 4 h, and intracellular staining for IFN-γ was performed. Representative dot plots (C) show IFN-γ expression by NKT cells (left panel), CD4+ conventional T cells (CD4+ conT, middle panel), and CD8+conventional T cells (CD8+ conT, right panel). Bar graphs (D) depict the percentages of IFN-γ-producing cells in the corresponding liver MNC subsets. Data are shown as means ± SEM and pooled from three independent experiments (five mice per group).*P<0.05,**P<0.01, and***P<0.001 vs. the normal control (NC) group. #P<0.05 and##P<0.01 vs, the Con A-treated group.