Article Figures & Data
Figures
- FIGURE 1.
Small numbers of invariant Vα24Vβ11+ NKT cells accumulate in human liver. A, Representative flow cytometry dot plot showing Vα24 and Vβ11 TCR chain expression by gated CD3+ cells freshly isolated from blood and liver of a liver transplant donor. Numbers show percentages of CD3+ cells that express the Vα24Vβ11 TCR. B and C, Percentages of CD3+ cells in blood and liver of six liver transplant donors expressing Vα24 (B) and Vα24Vβ11 (C) TCR chains. Horizontal lines indicate medians. ∗, p = 0.02.
- FIGURE 2.
Phenotypic characterization of human hepatic and peripheral blood Vα24+ T cells. A, Representative flow cytometry dot plot showing CD56, CD161, CD25, CD69, HLA-DR, and CD45RA expression by hepatic Vα24+ T cells from a liver transplant donor. B, Box plots showing median (horizontal lines), interquartile ranges (shaded areas), and ranges (error bars) of percentages of Vα24+ T cells in blood and liver of six liver transplant donors expressing CD4+, CD8+, and CD4−CD8− phenotypes, CD56, CD161, CD25, CD69, HLA-DR, and CD45RA. ∗, p = 0.03 for CD56, p = 0.02 for CD161, and p = 0.03 for CD69.
- FIGURE 3.
Invariant NKT cells are selectively depleted in tumor-bearing liver. A, Box plots showing median (horizontal lines), interquartile ranges (shaded areas), and ranges (error bars) of percentages of CD3+ cells in normal donor and tumor-bearing liver expressing Vα24 TCR chain and Vα24Vβ11 TCR. ∗, p = 0.04. B, Box plots showing median, interquartile ranges, and ranges of percentages of hepatic Vα24+ T cells in six normal donor livers and nine tumor-bearing livers expressing CD4+, CD8+, and CD4−CD8− phenotypes, CD56, CD161, CD25, CD69, HLA-DR, and CD45RA. ∗, p = 0.05 for CD56, p = 0.03 for CD161, and p = 0.03 for HLA-DR.
- FIGURE 4.
Hepatic NKT cells predominantly produce Th1 cytokines upon stimulation ex vivo. A, Representative flow cytometry dot plot showing IFN-γ, IL-2, TNF-α, and IL-4 expression by hepatic Vα24+ T cells stimulated for 4 h with PMA and ionomycin. The percentages of Vα24+ cells that express the cytokines are indicated in the upper right quadrants. B, Median percentages of Vα24+ cells in four normal donor livers and four tumor-bearing livers that express IFN-γ, IL-2, TNF-α, and IL-4 upon stimulation.
- FIGURE 5.
HMC respond to αGalCer stimulation. Mean IFN-γ (A) and IL-4 (B) levels released by vehicle-, αGalCer-, and PHA-stimulated MNC isolated from blood and livers of five liver transplant donors and from three livers of patients with hepatic malignancy. IL-4 production by αGalCer-stimulated HMC was not detected using ELISA sensitive to 1 pg/ml. ND, PHA stimulation of tumor-bearing liver was not performed.
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