ional Institutes of Health, and later used the same Pacific Blue- and PElabeled hamster anti-mouse/human Helios mAbs once they became commercially available. We purchased mAbs to human CD4, CD8, CD25, CTLA4 and Ki-67 from BD Biosciences; CD4, CD25, CD39, CD45RA, CD45RO, CD62L, CD127 and FOXP3 from eBioscience; CD4 from Invitrogen; CD8, CD31 and CD45RA, from Biolegend; TNFRII/TNFRSF1B from R&D and GARP from Alexis Biochemicals. We purchased mAbs to murine CD4, CD8, CD25, CD44, CD44RB, CD62L, Foxp3 and GARP from eBioscience. For all experiments, intranuclear staining for Foxp3 and Helios, and intracellular staining for CTLA-4 and Ki-67, were performed after surface staining; permeabilization was performed using the Foxp3 Fix/Perm Buffer kit. Cell fluorescence was measured using a Cyan flow cytometer and data analyzed using Flowjo software. Most flow cytometry assays were performed with additional staining with LIVE/DEAD Fixable Aqua Dead Cell Stain Kit to improve the quality of gating live cells and decrease non-specific staining of dead cells. Human Foxp3 methylation assay We isolated genomic DNA from CD4+ CD25+ beads-isolated Tregs using Puregene Kit A, according to the manufacturer’s instructions. To detect differentially methylated DNA fractions, we exposed the DNA to two restriction enzymes, one methylation-sensitive and the other methylation dependent. We then performed enzymatic digestions according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Next, we conducted DNA methylation PCR arrays using custom Foxp3 primers corresponding 
to the Treg-specific demethylated “1656303 region of human Foxp3. Using internal control digests, we calculated the percent of methylated CpG islands in TSDR region of Foxp3. We defined 05% of methylation as “unmethylated Foxp3”. Acknowledgments We thank Angela M. Thornton and Ethan M. Shevach for providing anti-Helios antibodies before they were commercially available; David A. Horwitz for advice on the CD8+ Foxp3+ conversion assay; and Tatiana Golovina and Tatiana Mikheeva “1635054 for providing human expanded Tregs. Murine mononuclear cell isolation and Treg and thymocyte studies We housed C57BL/6 mice in specific pathogen-free conditions and studied them using a protocol approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Spleen and lymph nodes were harvested, single cell suspensions Author Contributions Conceived and designed the experiments: TA UHB. Performed the experiments: TA UHB LW. Analyzed the data: TA UHB LW MHL WWH. Wrote the paper: TA UHB WWH. 12 August 2011 | Volume 6 | Issue 8 | e24226 Helios Is a Marker of T Cell Activation 13 August 2011 | Volume 6 | Issue 8 | e24226 MexEF-OprN Efflux Pump Exports the Pseudomonas Quinolone Signal Precursor HHQ Martin G. XAV-939 web Lamarche, Eric Deziel bec, Canada INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier, Laval, Que Abstract Bacterial cells have evolved the capacity to communicate between each other via small diffusible chemical signals termed autoinducers. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen involved, among others, in cystic fibrosis complications. Virulence of P. aeruginosa relies on its ability to produce a number of autoinducers, including 4-hydroxy2-alkylquinolines. In a cell density-dependent manner, accumulated signals induce the expression of multiple targets, especially virulence factors. This phenomenon, called quorum sensing, promotes bacterial capacity to cause disease. Furthermore, P. aeruginosa possesses many multidrug eff