Figure 5.

Interleukin (IL)-35 stimulation suppressed cytolytic and noncytolytic function of CD8⁺ T cells in chronic hepatitis B (CHB, n = 9). Purified CD8⁺ T cells from HLA-A2 restricted CHB patients were co-culture with HepG2.2.15 cells in the presence or absence of IL-35 with HBc 18-27 peptide stimulation in either direct or indirect contact culture system. As controls, HepG2.2.15 cells were cultured alone, and CD8⁺ T cells were stimulated with HBc 18–27 peptide. The concentrations of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) (A) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) (B) in the supernatants were measured by Human Proinflammation 7-Plex Base Kit using SECTOR Imager. (C) Percentage of cell death was measured by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release. The data were presented as mean ± SD, and significances were calculated using paired t-test.