5% CO2 in RPMI 1640 medium (Lonza) containing 10%
FBS, 2mM glutamine, 100 IU/ml penicillin, and 100 µm/ml streptomycin.
1×106 PBMC were stained with a marker to distinguish live
and dead cells (Invitrogen) followed by surface staining with the following
directly conjugated mAbs: anti-CD3, anti-CD4, anti-CD25 (clone 4E3, Miltenyi
Biotech), anti-CD45RA, and anti-HLA-DR for 25 minutes at room temperature. Cells
were then washed once with FACS wash buffer and fixed with 1× fix/perm
buffer (Tonbo Biosciences) for 60 minutes at room temperature, then washed again
with 1× perm buffer solution and incubated in this buffer solution for
10 minutes, washed again with 1× perm buffer solution, and incubated for
45 minutes with mAb to Foxp3 (clone 206D, Biolegend). An isotype-matched
antibody was used as a control (Biolegend). Cells were then washed with
1× perm buffer solution, followed by an additional wash with FACS wash
buffer, re-suspended in 1% formalin in PBS, and acquired by the LSR-II
flow cytometer.