Figure 2.

Regulation of surface markers. Purified CD56^posCD3^neg cells were cultivated for 4–6 weeks with different cytokines or cytokine combinations. (A) At indicated time points, frequencies of CD16^pos natural killer (NK) cells were assessed by flow cytometry. The graph represents means of 5–11 independent donors. (B) The graphs show the distribution of CD16^pos cells and their CD16^neg counterpart within CD56^pos NK cells on days 10 and 21. Bars represent mean values of 5–11 independent donors, lines indicate SDs. (C) Expression of various activating and inhibitory receptors after 6 days of cultivation is shown for selected protocols. Bars represent mean values of three independent donors, lines indicate SDs. Significant differences are indicated by asterisks (*p < 0.05, one-way ANOVA).