Fig. 1

Long-term, continuous FK506 treatment in mice. A–D Experimental design, health status monitoring by weight, survival, and FK506 levels in WT and APP/PS1 mice. A Experimental design indicating monitoring of weight, immune response, cognitive testing, survival, and FK506 levels. B Weight measurements of the mice during the duration of the experiment. Data are means ± SEM; n = 11–14 mice per group; * = p < 0.05 by two-way ANOVA with Tukey with the APP/PS1(red) mice being significantly different than the other 3 groups and no difference between the WT (blue), WT + FK506 (green), and APP/PS1 + FK506 (purple) cohorts. C Kaplan-Meyer survival curve. N = 11–14 mice per group. WT (blue), WT + FK (green), APP/PS1 (red), and APP/PS1 + FK (purple). D FK506 concentration in tail vein blood by mass spectrometry in the WT + FK506 (green) and APP/PS1 + FK506 (purple) cohorts. n = 4–12 mice per group. * = p < 0.05 by two-tailed unpaired t-test. E Post-mortem brain analysis of FK506 levels in treated mice. n = 6–10 mice per group. F Peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) immune activation assay using IL-2 transcript levels at 56 days post pellet implantation in WT mice. Fold induction versus unactivated cells. G Peripheral blood mononuclear cell immune activation assay using IL-2 transcript levels at 56 days post pellet implantation in APP/PS1 mice. H Splenocytes from WT sacrificed mice were activated with PMA/ionophore for 4 h prior to measurement of IL-2 mRNA by qPCR. I Splenocytes from APP/PS1 sacrificed mice were activated with PMA/ionophore for 4 h prior to measurement of IL-2 mRNA by qPCR. Fold induction versus unactivated cells. Data are means ± SEM; n = (3–10) biological replicates. * = p < 0.05 by one-way ANOVA with Tukey. For all graphs, WT (blue), WT + FK506 (green), APP/PS1 (red), and APP/PS1 + FK506 (purple)