Fig. 1

Characterization of ILCs in the mouse esophagus and human EoE patients. A Schematic representation of mouse esophageal and lung immune cells analyzed via flow cytometry. B FACS plots showing ILCs in esophageal (orange) and lung (green) tissues. C Comparison of transcription factor expression in total esophageal and lung ILCs. D Frequencies of ILCs in the esophagus and lung. FACS plots (E) and frequencies (F) of cytokine-producing ILCs in the esophagus and lung. G Comparison of surface molecules in total esophageal and lung CD25⁺ ST2⁺ ILC2s (gray: fluorescence minus one control (FMO)). H Frequencies of CD90.2, ICOS, KLRG1, and SCA1⁺ ILC2s in total esophageal and lung CD25⁺ ST2⁺ ILC2s. I Study design for human esophageal biopsies analyzed via immunofluorescence. J Number of ILCs detected in patients with esophageal diseases. K Representative immunofluorescence images from healthy controls and GERD and EoE patients (KLRG1: magenta; CD3e: green; and DAPI: blue). The white arrows indicate CD3⁺ T cells, whereas the orange arrows indicate KLRG1⁺ ILC2s. Scale bars = 50 µm. The data were pooled from at least 2‒3 independent experiments and are presented as the means ± SEMs. *P ≤ 0.05, **P ≤ 0.01, ***P ≤ 0.001, ****P ≤ 0.0001, ns, not significant