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. 2021 Jun 14;44(6):401–407. doi: 10.14348/molcells.2021.0079

Fig. 1. Phenotypes and functions of SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8+ T cells in patients with acute COVID-19.

Fig. 1

During acute COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8+ T cells express not only activation markers (CD38 and HLA-DR), a proliferation marker (Ki-67), and cytotoxic molecules (perforin and granzyme B), but also immune checkpoint inhibitory receptors (PD-1 and TIM-3). However, SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8+ T cells produce IFN-γ regardless of PD-1 expression, indicating that SARS-CoV-2-specific PD-1+CD8+ T cells are functional, not exhausted.