RBFOX is present with AIRE in mTEC nuclei and influences TEC development. (A) Confocal immunofluorescence analysis of the localization of AIRE (green) and RBFOX (red) in the thymic medulla. RBFOX was detected using an anti-RRM domain-specific antibody, mTEC were identified by reactivity with the lectin UEA-1 (yellow), and nuclei were labeled using DAPI (blue). Two representative sections are shown in the upper and lower panels. (B) Representative flow cytometric analysis of cTEC and mTEC frequencies among thymic epithelial cells extracted from Rbfox2 tKO animals. (C) Quantification of cTEC and mTEC frequency in Rbfox2 tKO animals. The mean ± SE from n = 2 independent experiments is shown in bar graphs; (*) P-value < 0.05 for two-sided Welch two sample t-test.
