Figure 3.

Increased degranulation and decreased IFN-γ production by NKT-like cells in treated CML patients. PBMCs isolated from heparinized fresh whole blood were incubated with and without the K562 cell line (effector:target ratio 25:1), in the presence of Brefeldin A, for 4 h in CO₂ incubator, at 37°C. At the end of incubation cells were stained for cell membrane receptors and intracellular targets to be analyzed by multiparametric flow cytometry. (A) Representative histograms of the cut-off for positive NKT-like cells for each parameter. From left to right: CD107a expression, Granzyme-B and IFN-γ intracellular production from CML patients (orange) and HD group (green). (B) Top: Frequency of CD107a NKT-like cells, intracellular accumulation of Granzyme-B and IFN-γ intracellular production against K562 cell line. Bottom: Corresponding MFI of CD107a, Granzyme-B and IFN-γ parameters. Graphs represent data from HD (n = 40) and CML (n = 24) samples as mean ± standard deviation. Paired t-test was used to compare between groups. HD, Healthy donors; CML, treated CML patients; MFI, Median Intensity Fluorescence; p-value <0.05*, <0.01**, <0.001***, or <0.0001****.