1A). We next analyzed the CD244 expression on EBV-specific and Flu-specific CD8+ T-cells in the same chronically infected HBV patient. Virus-specific CD244 in chronic HBV (78%; MFI: 760) was comparable to latently persisting EBV infection (n ATM/ATR inhibitor clinical trial = 12) (83%; MFI:

614). Self-limiting Flu infection (n = 5) was characterized by significant lower levels of CD244 (18%; MFI: 225) compared to chronic HBV (percentage: P = 0.001; MFI: P = 0.001) and EBV infection (percentage: 0.001; MFI: 0.0007) (Fig. 1C). Representative FACS contour plots are given in Fig. 1D. To determine the CD244 expression in different phases of HBV infection, we longitudinally investigated acutely infected patients until resolution (n = 3) and chronically infected patients during nucleo(s)tide therapy (n = 3). CD244 expression in acute (Fig. 2A) and chronic infection (Fig. 2B) did not show significant changes in relation to: (1) clinical parameters (HBV DNA, ALT, HBeAg, HBsAg) and (2) immunological features such as CD8+Pentc18-27+ T-cell frequencies. We observed distinct variation in PD-1 and TIM-3 expression during the course of acute infection (Fig. 2A). Both molecules declined in all three acutely selleck compound infected patients.

To determine the correlation of CD244 with the activation status of CD8+Pentc18-27+ T-cells in chronic HBV infection (n = 9), we co-stained CD244 with different activation markers selleck inhibitor such as CD38, CD69, and HLA-DR. Virus-specific CD244 showed low coexpression with CD38 (17%) and CD69 (12.5%) and modest coexpression with HLA-DR (31%) (Fig. 3A). Subsequently, we determined the induction of CD8+CD69+CD244+ T-cells after stimulation of chronically infected patients (n = 9) with HBV core antigen. CD244+CD8+ T-cells coexpressed lower levels of CD69 after antigenic stimulation (1.7%) compared to CD244-CD8+ T-cells (5.1%) (Fig. 3B). Representative FACS contour plots are shown (Fig. 3C). We next investigated the coexpression of CD244 and PD-1 in the peripheral blood of chronically infected and untreated HBV patients (n = 12),

resolvers (n = 6), EBV infection (n = 8), and in the liver tissue of three chronic patients. Peripheral CD244/PD-1 was significantly higher on CD8+Pentc18-27+ T-cells of chronic infection (77%) compared to the total CD8+ T-cells (13.5%) (P = 0.0005) (data not shown). CD244/PD-1 was significantly higher coexpressed on liver-derived virus-specific CD8+ T-cells (96.3%) compared to the peripheral blood (77%) (P = 0.02) (Fig. 4A), whereas intrahepatic total CD8+ T-cells coexpressed lower amounts of CD244/PD-1 (70%) (data not shown). HBV resolution was significantly associated with low coexpression (33%) (P = 0.0009) (Fig. 4A). CD244/PD-1 was significantly lower on EBV-specific CD8+ T-cells (55.5%) compared to chronic HBV infection (P = 0.01), although the virus-specific expression of CD244 was similar in both viral diseases (Fig. 4A).