Naive CD4 T cells were isolated by FACS sorting using a MoFlo sorter of lymph nodes cell suspensions for CD44lo CD25− CD4+ cells. The culture mediums used were IMDM (Sigma-Aldrich) or RPMI 1640 (Sigma-Aldrich), both supplemented with 2 × 10−3 M l -glutamine, 100 U/ml penicillin, 100 μg/ml streptomycin, 5 × 10−5 M β-mercaptoethanol, and 5% FCS. In some cases, RPMI medium was supplemented with 11 mg/liter l -tryptophan (Invitrogen) to adjust it to the concentrations found in IMDM.
Th17 cells were differentiated on plates coated with 2 μg/ml anti-CD3 + 5 μg/ml anti-CD28 with a cytokine cocktail of 50 ng/ml IL-6, 1 ng/ml TGF-β, and 10 ng/ml IL-1. Neutralizing antibodies to IFN-γ, IL-4, or IL-2 were added at 10 μg/ml in some experiments. Th1 cells were stimulated in the presence of 3 ng/ml IL-12, and iT reg cells were generated by adding 10 ng/ml TGF-β. The AhR antagonist CH-223191 (Calbiochem) was added at 3 μM at the start of culture. FICZ was added at 300 nM at the start of some cultures. For measurements of intracellular cytokines, T cells were restimulated with 500 ng/ml phorbol dibutyrate and 500 ng/ml ionomycin in the presence of brefeldin A for 4 h on day 5 after initiation of cultures. Measurement of Stat5 phosphorylation was done with antibodies to pStat5 (BD) according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Th17 cells were differentiated on plates coated with 2 μg/ml anti-CD3 + 5 μg/ml anti-CD28 with a cytokine cocktail of 50 ng/ml IL-6, 1 ng/ml TGF-β, and 10 ng/ml IL-1. Neutralizing antibodies to IFN-γ, IL-4, or IL-2 were added at 10 μg/ml in some experiments. Th1 cells were stimulated in the presence of 3 ng/ml IL-12, and iT reg cells were generated by adding 10 ng/ml TGF-β. The AhR antagonist CH-223191 (Calbiochem) was added at 3 μM at the start of culture. FICZ was added at 300 nM at the start of some cultures. For measurements of intracellular cytokines, T cells were restimulated with 500 ng/ml phorbol dibutyrate and 500 ng/ml ionomycin in the presence of brefeldin A for 4 h on day 5 after initiation of cultures. Measurement of Stat5 phosphorylation was done with antibodies to pStat5 (BD) according to the manufacturer's instructions.