FIGURE 5.

CD73-deficient CD8+ T cells are more effective in controlling tumor growth than WT cells. (A) Diagram showing the experimental setup: B16.OVA melanoma cells were intradermally injected in the back right flank of CD45.1+ mice. Seven days after the tumor challenge, OT-I or OT-I/CD73KO CD8+ naïve T cells (1 × 10⁶ cells) were adoptively transferred. Tumor area and tumor-infiltrating T cells were analyzed. (B) Tumor growth curves of CD45.1+ mice that were injected with OT-I or OT-I/CD73KO CD8+ naïve T cells or control (PBS) (n = 5). Tumor area was calculated by measuring and multiplying perpendicular axes, the results were plotted as the mean ± SEM for each day. (C) The absolute number of OVA-specific CD8+ T cells per gram of tumor (n = 5). (D) Frequency of OVA-specific CD8+ T cells in the tumor (TILs) (n = 5), (E) Dot plots, and bar graphs depicting the expression and frequency of positive cells within the adoptively transferred cells (CD45.2+/CD8+ gate) for the different inhibitory receptors. (F) MFI of inhibitory receptors in the adoptively transferred cells (CD45.2+/CD8+ gate). Data is presented as the mean ± SEM. Significance was determined using two-way repeated measured ANOVA with Bonferroni’s correction post hoc at day 19 (B), and unpaired two-tailed Mann–Whitney test (C–E). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001 (B, Two-Ways ANOVA), (C–E, Two-tailed Mann–Whitney Test).