Fig 6.

Relationship between the effects of IMiDs on HIV-specific T-cell proliferation and cytokine production. Purified CD8⁺ (A) and CD4⁺ (B) T cells were labeled with CellTrace Violet and stimulated with DCs electroporated with antigen-encoding mRNA. On day 7, the T cells were cocultured overnight with DCs electroporated with Gag- or Nef-encoding mRNA before the cells were stained intracellularly to measure cytokine production. The percentages on the flow cytometry plots indicate the percentages of cytokine-producing (IFN-γ⁺, TNF-α⁺, or IL-2⁺) cells within the proliferating (CellTrace Violet^low) CD4⁺ or CD8⁺ T-cell population. In panel A, one representative out of 5 experiments is shown, whereas one representative out of 6 experiments is shown in panel B. (C and D) IFN-γ (left), TNF-α (middle), and IL-2 (right) MFI of cytokine⁺ CellTrace Violet^low CD8⁺ (C) and CD4⁺ (D) T cells. Each symbol represents one experiment. Identical shapes indicate that the Gag-specific (filled symbols) or the Nef-specific (open symbols) T-cell responses of the same patient were analyzed. Horizontal lines indicate the means from all experiments. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001.