Figure 2 NKG2D ligands are increased in active patients with different juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) subgroups. (A) Bar charts of serum soluble NKG2D ligands MICA and MICB levels determined by ELISA from healthy controls (HC; n = 10), systemic onset JIA (soJIA; n = 10), pauciarticular JIA (paJIA; n = 8) and polyarticular JIA (poJIA; n = 8). (B) Monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DCs) generated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of healthy controls and patients of JIA were stimulated by human IL-15 (20 ng/ml) for 24 h and then analyzed for MICA and MICB expression by flow cytometry. (C) Bar charts of the expression of MICA and MICB on DCs from HC (n = 10), soJIA (n = 10), paJIA (n = 8) and poJIA (n = 8). * P < 0.01 and #P < 0.05 for within group interaction.