Figure 1. Frequencies of ILC subsets in the induced sputum and peripheral blood. (A) Gating strategy used to identify the ILCs in the sputum. The total ILCs in the CD45⁺ lymphocytes were gated as Lineage (CD3ε, CD11c, CD11b, CD14, CD19, CD49b, and FcεRIα)-negative and CD127 (IL-7R)-positive cells. The ILC1s, ILC2s, and ILC3s were then determined by assessing ST-2 and CD117 expression. (B, C) Frequencies of total ILCs (B) and each ILC subset (C) in the HC (n=15) and asthma patients (n=41). The 2 ILC3 subtypes were identified based on their NCR (NKp44) expression. (D) Gating strategy used to identify the ILCs in the peripheral blood. The total ILCs in the CD45⁺ lymphocytes were gated as Lineage⁻CD127⁺ cells. The ILC1, ILC2, and ILC3 subsets were then determined by assessing ST-2 and CD117 expression. (E, F) Frequencies of total ILCs (E) and each ILC subset (F) in the HC (n=21) and asthma patients (n=62). The healthy control and asthma groups were compared in terms of ILC frequencies using the Mann-Whitney U test or unpaired t-tests. Each dot represents one human sample. The data are presented as mean±SD.

^*p<0.05; ^**p<0.01.