Figure 2.

Antiviral effector function and phenotype of HBcAg-specific CD8 T cells. (a,b) Liver damage as determined by measurement of serum ALT at d31 after start of vaccination and d3 after CpG-injection (a) and reduction in serum HBeAg levels (b) in HBV transgenic mice. (c) Intracellular levels of GzmB and IFNγ in hepatic CD8 T cells following ex vivo restimulation with an HBcore peptide. (d,e) Numbers and expression levels of GzmB⁺ and IFNγ⁺ in HBcAg-specific CD8 T cells after ex vivo restimulation. Bars in (a,b,d,e) indicate mean value of n ≥ 3 mice + SEM. Statistical analyses were performed using (a,d) Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn’s multiple comparison correction, (b) paired t-test and (e) Mann-Whitney test. Asterisks mark statistically significant differences: *p < 0.05; ns – not significant; n.d. – not detectable