Figure 3

Itk , Txk , and Lck mRNA levels were modulated by dexamethasone treatment of immature and mature lymphocytes in vitro. Itk, Txk, and Lck mRNA levels were evaluated in thymocytes (gray triangle), splenocytes (black square), lymphocytes from lymph nodes (black diamond), peripheral T lymphocytes (circle), CD4⁺ T cells (plus), and CD8⁺ T cells (asterisk) that were untreated (0 h) or treated with medium alone or together with dexamethasone (DEX, 100 nM) for 1 or 3 h. Changes in mRNA expression were evaluated by RNAse protection assay and quantitated as shown in Figure 2 (panels A-C) or validated by real-time PCR (panel D-F). Fold modulation of Itk (A, D), Txk (B, E), and Lck (C, F) expression is represented as the mean (±SD) of three independent experiments and is shown on a logarithmic scale (base 2). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and ***P < 0.001, according to Student’s t-test comparing the levels of kinase mRNA in dexamethasone-treated cells to those in the respective controls.