Figure 3.

UL40-encoding signal peptides identified in intraocular fluid strongly suppressed NKG2A⁺ NK cells. (A) Gating strategy for identification of two NK cell subsets, as determined by NKG2A⁺NKG2C^- (NKG2A⁺) and NKG2A^-NKG2C⁺ (NKG2C⁺), and representative flow cytometry plots of staining for IFN-γ and CD107 in NKG2A⁺ or NKG2C⁺ NK cells cultured in medium alone (medium) or with K562E cells (K562E) or K562E cells pulsed with peptides (VMAPRTLIL) (K562+peptide). (B) Inhibitory and activating effects of the seven representative peptides on NKG2A⁺ (two panels on left) and NKG2C⁺ (two panels on right) NK cells were compared. Data are shown as fold-change normalized to the response against unpulsed K562E cells. One-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s multiple comparison test. (C) Magnitudes of NKG2A-mediated inhibition and NKG2C-mediated activation by SP1 and SP3 were compared with those by SP2. Shown are ratios of anti-SP1 and -SP3 responses of NKG2A⁺ and NKG2C⁺ NK cells to anti-SP2 responses. The means ± SEM are shown. Representative data obtained for healthy CMV-seropositive individuals (n = 6) are shown. ^*P < 0.05, ^****P < 0.0001.