FIGURE 2.

Cytokine profile of NS3-specific effector memory CD8⁺ T cells in vaccinated mice. Splenocytes from C57BL/6 mice (n = 7/group) vaccinated with 10⁶ live or necrotic NS3 DC2.4 cells were harvested 14 days post vaccination and restimulated with immunodominant NS3 epitopes. Intracellular cytokine staining was performed (Supplementary Figure 2) to assess the frequency of (A) CD3⁺ CD8⁺ T CD44 ^high effector memory T cells that are single cytokine producers of IFN-γ or IL-2 or TNF-α, (B) The MFI of IFN-γ, IL-2, and TNF-α producing NS3 specific CD3⁺ CD8⁺ T CD44^high T cells; (C) Frequency of CD8⁺ CD44^high effector memory T cells that are double cytokine producers of IFN-γ/TNF-α or IL-2/IFN-γ or IL-2-TNF-α (D) IFN-γ/TNF-α/IL-2 triple-positive CD8⁺ CD44 ^high effector memory T cells. Plots are representative of two independent experiments. Data show mean ± SEM. ^∗p < 0.05, ^∗∗p < 0.01, and ^∗∗∗p < 0.001 (Mann–Whitney test).