Fig. 6

Prenatal ETS exposure causes a reduction in pulmonary NK cell numbers and their IFN-γ production. The effect of exposure to prenatal ETS or filtered air on lung and splenic natural killer (NK) cell numbers and IFN-γ was examined in 12-week old pups. Offspring (6 mice per group) were intranasally challenged with HDM allergen or PBS (control). Lung mononuclear cells (LMC) were isolated by collagenase dispersion of lung tissue. a After gating on CD3⁻CD19⁻ cells, the frequency of LMC CD3⁻CD19⁻NK1.1⁺CD94⁺ NK cells was determined using multicolor flow cytometry and b expressed as total number of NK cells (per mouse). c Frequency of splenic CD3⁻CD19⁻NK1.1⁺CD94⁺ NK cells was determined using multicolor flow cytometry. d NK cells in LMC were stimulated with anti-NK1.1 antibody (PK136, 20 μg/ml) for 24 h and IFN-γ production measured in the supernatants by ELISA. Results are mean ± SEM (n = 4), *p < 0.05 and **p < 0.01. Data are representative of at least 2 independent experiments