Fig. 6

Mcl-1 inhibition was the most effective in reducing viability of both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells after activation in healthy controls. PBMCs of healthy controls (HD; N = 3), rheumatoid arthritis (RA; N = 3), and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE; N = 7) were stimulated with CD3 (clone 1XE) and CD28 (clone 15E8) soluble antibodies for 6 days followed by in vitro treatment with the Bcl-2 inhibitor venetoclax (A–B), Mcl-1 inhibitor S63845 (C–D) or dual Bcl-2/Bcl-XL inhibitor AZD4320 (E–F) for 24 h. Viability data were measured by flow cytometry using DiOC6/TO-PRO-3 staining in total CD4+ or CD8+ T cell populations. Two-way Anova test was used for statistical analyses; ns not statistically significant. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM