Fig. 5

Altered T-cell functionality in an ex vivo model of T-cell receptor activation of purified T cells from healthy volunteers (n = 9). Purified T cells were activated with anti-CD3/28 antibody-coated beads (αCD3/28, 1:1 bead-to-cell ratio) or anti-CD3 antibody-coated beads (αCD3, 1:1 bead-to-cell ratio) or not stimulated (NS) for 5 days. T cells were then activated a second time with anti-CD2/3/28 antibody-coated beads (αCD2/3/28, 1:1 bead-to-cell ratio) for 3 days. Intracellular interleukin 2 (IL-2), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), and interferon gamma (IFNγ) staining was performed. The percentages of cells producing the three cytokines simultaneously (a) or none of the three cytokines (b) are represented for CD4⁺ (left panel) and CD8⁺ (right panel) T cells. c The percentages of proliferating cells are represented for CD4⁺ (left panel) and CD8⁺ (right panel) T cells. Data are presented as Tukey boxplots. Mann–Whitney paired tests were used to compare values between non-stimulated and stimulated conditions, *P <0.05, **P <0.01