Figure 7.

CD24 is a suitable target for CD24⁺CD38^hi B cell depletion. (A) Gating strategy and representative density plots of CD19 and CD24 expression on gated lymphocytes from HBV patients at 12 weeks (12w) after the initiation of PEG-IFNα-2b therapy. After gating on CD24⁺ lymphocytes, nearly 95% of cells were CD19⁺CD3^- B cells. (B) Percentage analysis of gated CD24⁺ cells belonged to CD19⁺ B, CD3⁺ T cell, and CD19^-CD3^- other cell populations. n = 20. Paired two-tailed t-tests. (C) Representative density plots showing CD24 and CD38 expression on gated lymphocytes from HBV patients before and after CD24⁺ cells were sorted. CD24⁺ cells were sorted using an anti-CD24 antibody (BD Bioscience) and anti-FITC-MicroBeads (MiltenyiBiotec). (D, E) Representative density plots and percentage analysis of CD24 and CD38 expression in each group. PBMCs from HBV patients were cultured at a density of 1 × 10⁶ cells per 1 ml with 10 µg of anti-human CD24 antibody and 500 µl of guinea pig serum, with 500 µl of guinea pig serum only, or with 500 µl of complete RPMI medium 1640 (control) for 30min. n = 5. Paired two-tailed t-tests Mean ± SEM, *p < 0·05, **P < 0·01, ****P < 0·0001.