Cell surface staining was performed at 4°C for 30 min in FACS buffer (10% FBS, 2.5mM EDTA in PBS). ILC were identified among CD8α
− (clone 5.3–6.7, Biolegend), CD3i
− (clone 17A2, Biolegend), IL‐7Rα
+ (clone A7R34, Biolegend), B220
− (clone RA3‐6B2, eBioscience), CD11b
− (clone M1/70, eBioscience), CD11c
− (clone N418, eBioscience), CD3
− (clone 145‐2C11, eBioscience), and CD5
− (clone 53–7.3, eBioscience). Thymic iNKT cells were identified as mCD1d/PBS57
+ and TCRβ
+ (clone H57‐597, eBioscience). Intracellular cell staining was performed at room temperature for 1 h in
permeabilization buffer (eBioscience). ILC2 and ILC3 subsets were identified using Abs against GATA3
+ (clone TWAJ, eBioscience) and RORγt
+ (clone AFKJS‐9, eBioscience). Staining for RANKL expression was performed in two steps using biotinylated RANKL (clone: IK22/5, eBioscience) and streptavidin‐PECy7 (Molecular Probes) at 4°C for 30 min in FACS buffer. Samples included Spherotech
Accucount blank particles to enable calculation of cell frequency and were acquired using a
Fortessa (BD). Samples were analyzed using FlowJo (FlowJo, LLC). Full gating strategy for all flow cytometry data identifying thymic ILC populations is shown in Supporting Information Fig. 1A.
Jones R., Cosway E.J., Willis C., White A.J., Jenkinson W.E., Fehling H.J., Anderson G, & Withers D.R. (2018). Dynamic changes in intrathymic ILC populations during murine neonatal development. European Journal of Immunology, 48(9), 1481-1491.