Figure 5.

Enhanced TIGIT⁺HIV_Gag-specific CD8 T cell function is driven by IL-27 dependent upregulation of T-bet

PBMCs from PLWH (HIV⁺, n = 9) were cultured in the absence (red opened symbols) or presence (red closed symbols) of rhIL-27 (100 ng/mL) overnight follow by stimulation with HIV_Gag peptide pool. DMSO was used as control. PBMCs from and healthy controls (HC, n = 9) were cultured in the absence (black opened symbols) or presence (black closed symbols) of rhIL-27 (100 ng/mL) overnight follow by stimulation with were stimulated with CEF (CMV, EBV and Influenza pool of peptides), and DMSO was used as control. IL-27 upregulation of T-bet and CD69 was measured by flow cytometry. (A) Gating strategy for TIGIT⁺and TIGIT⁻virus-specific T cells secreting IFNγ⁺TNFα⁺.

(B) Expression of CD69⁺T-bet⁺ in cytokine secreting CD8 T cells. TIGIT⁺CD69⁺T-bet⁺ or TIGIT⁻ CD69⁺T-bet⁺ cytokine secreting T cells is expressed as frequency of total CD8 T cells. The graph is represented by box and whisker showing the median value with first and third quartiles in the box, with whiskers extending to the minimum and maximum values. Comparisons between culture conditions were performed using non-parametric Wilcoxon test. p value <0.05 was considered significant.