IL-15Rα⁺ DCs partially recover peripheral iNKT cells. (A) Representative flow cytometric plots of CD1d tetramer⁺ CD3⁺ cells in the thymus, liver, and spleen of IL-15Rα^−/− (left column), CD11c/IL-15Rα Tg (middle column), and WT (right column) mice. Plots are representative of 3 independent experiments. (B) Absolute numbers of iNKT cells as detected by CD1d tetramer were calculated for each group of mice, IL-15Rα^−/− (■), CD11c/IL-15Rα Tg (), and WT (□), in the respective tissues. Error bars represent SEM, and the numbers above bars represent the percentage of WT levels. *P ≤ .05. Data are the average of 3 independent experiments; n = 6/group. Tg and WT iNKT cell numbers were statistically compared against total iNKT from IL-15Rα^−/− mice. (C) Absolute numbers of iNKT subsets as determined by CD44 and NK1.1 expression in the indicated mice.