Disruption of SR-A confirmed by flow cytometry and by PCR analysis in SR-A^−/− NOD mice.

DCs (A) and macrophages (B) were analyzed by flow cytometry. Bone marrow cells isolated from 7–9-week-old SR-A^−/− NOD mice or NOD mice were cultured with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and IL-4 for 7 days and DCs were isolated using magnetic beads. Macrophages were obtained from the abdominal cavity of 8-week-old mice. Representative data for the double staining of CD11c and CD204 (SR-A) or CD11b and CD204 are shown for SR-A^−/− NOD mice. (C) Neo gene–containing PCR products (1.5 kb and 1.2 kb) from genomic DNA of tails and mRNA from spleen cells and BMDCs were detected in SR-A^−/− NOD mice, but not in NOD mice. PCR analysis confirmed that SR-A gene was indeed deficient in SR-A^−/− NOD mice.