Figure 3. Polyfunctionality of HCV-specific T cells in seronegative, aviremic hemodialysis patients.

PBMCs were stimulated with an epitope peptide or a peptide mix, and production of IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-2, and MIP-1β was simultaneously assessed in multi-cytokine ICS in order to evaluate polyfunctionality of HCV-specific CD4⁺ T cells. In each patient, the fraction of T cells positive for a given number of functions is presented as bar graphs. In the patient with CD8⁺ T cell responses (CMI-4), cytotoxic degranulation function was also evaluated by CD107a staining in addition to multi-cytokine ICS for IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-2, and MIP-1β.