Figure 6. In-Vitro Functional Assessment of Alloreactive CD28⁺ CD8⁺ T_EMRA.

(a) Depletion of CD28⁺ cells from sorted CD8⁺ T_EMRA results in a 77.5% relative reduction in proliferative capacity (P=0.0001, black bars). Proliferation of CD28⁺ T_EMRA is unaffected by belatacept treatment (100ug/ml, grey bars). (b) CD28⁺ CD8⁺ T_EMRA exhibited a 71% relative proliferative advantage over CD8⁺CD45RACCR7, conventional CD8⁺ T_EM (P=0.0016). (c) PMA and Ionomycin (P+I) was insufficient to elicit effector function from CD8⁺ T_EMRA, but addition of IL-15 results in IFNγ⁺TNF⁺ CD8⁺ T_EMRA in both CD28⁺ (P=0.0013) and CD28 T_EMRA (P<0.0001).