Fig. 4

Degranulation and cytotoxic markers are diminished in CD4⁺NKG2D⁺CD28⁻ T cells. Expression of the degranulation (CD107a) and cytotoxic markers (CD161) was measured on gated CD3⁺CD4⁺NKG2D⁺ T cells in control and cervical cancer samples subdivided in turn, into the three groups based on ranges of CD4⁺NKG2D⁺ T cells (as mentioned in Results). Expressions of CD107a (a) and CD161 (b), graphed as a percentage of gated CD4⁺NKG2D⁺ T cells, were negative and statistically significant correlated accordingly with the expansion of CD4⁺NKG2D⁺ T cells (Spearman ρ = -0.480; p = 0.006; Spearman ρ = -0.441; p = 0.013, respectively) in control samples. Negative correlation in cervical cancer was not significant; however, a similar tendency to that seen in healthy donors can be also observed. Representative FACS dot plots of CD107a and CD161 expression in control (upper panel) or cancer patient (lower panel) are shown in (c). The expression of these markers is clearly lost in accordance with the increase of the CD4⁺NKG2D⁺ T cell population