Comparison of phenotypic characterization between peripheral and intrahepatic NK cells from HCC patients. (A) Representative viSNE plots of peripheral and intrahepatic NK cells (CD45+CD3−CD14−CD19−CD56+) from HCC patients. Each panel shows expression of the indicated surface protein. The color scale indicates a gradient of high (red) to low (blue) expression of the relevant protein. PBMC, peripheral blood mononuclear cell; NCa, intrahepatic lymphocytes from non-cancerous adjacent liver tissues; Ca, intrahepatic lymphocytes from HCC tissues. (B) Representative histograms showing expression of the indicated cell surface protein in peripheral and intrahepatic NCa-and Ca-NK cells from HCC patients. (C) Quantification of CD160, Siglec-7, DNAM1, CD69, NKG2D, CD49a, CX3CR1, Siglec-10, ILT2, and PD-1 expression (MSI) on peripheral, intrahepatic NCa- and Ca-NK cells. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01 by the Kruskal–Wallis test with Dunn’s multiple comparison test.