Table I.
Groups of factorial design (the direct and indirect interaction/contact of TILs and CAFs/NFs): 3 factor × 2 level. Factors: TILs/CAFs/NFs (further abbreviation: T/C/N); levels: 0 and 1. Level number 0, 1 meant the given number level of cells, N0/C0/T0 meant 0 cell/well; N1/C1 meant 1500 cells/well; T1 meant 15 000 cells/well. The design of 3 factor × 2 level is composed of eight groups (n = 6: samples in one group). The indirect interaction experiment was designed according to the same protocol. Factor M is the acronym of medium, which meant TILs in the up chamber of the Transwell. M0 meant 0 cell/well in the upper chamber of the Transwell. M1 meant 15 000 cells/well. Two cases of homologous cells (TILs and CAFs/NFs) were used in the experiment (repeated three times).
| Direct cell-cell interaction (3 Factor × 2 Level, eight groups) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Factorial design | C0
|
C1
|
||
| Factor-Level Groups | N0 | N1 | N0 | N1 |
| T0 | T0C0N0 | T0C0N1 | T0C1N0 | T0C1N1 |
| T1 | T1C0N0 | T1C0N1 | T1C1N0 | T1C1N1 |
| Indirect cell-cell interaction (3 Factor × 2 Level, eight groups) | ||||
| M0 | M0C0N0 | M0C0N1 | M0C1N0 | M0C1N1 |
| M1 | M1C0N0 | M1C0N1 | M1C1N0 | M1C1N1 |