Fig. 4.

Sensitivity of CD8⁺ T cells to IL-2 correlates with the strength of proliferation response in the context of weak TCR stimulation. a Simulation results: proliferative responses of IL-2•IL-2R-threshold-low and -high CD8⁺ T cells to graded doses of IL-2 supplement (0.3–10 ng/ml) with a weak antigenic stimulation (Weak Ag) or in antigen-free conditions (No Ag) (mean ± SD; n = 10 simulations). Total CD8⁺ T cell counts are measured at 120 h pi. b In vitro results (data come from Fig. 5a in [30]): in vitro proliferation of B6 naïve CD5^lo and CD5^hi CD8⁺ T cells to a low concentration of soluble CD3 mAb (0.1 μg/ml) with or without graded concentrations of IL-2 supplement (0.3–10 ng/ml)