Fig. 2

Cell subset-specific analysis identifies homeostatic and stroke-associated GZMK⁺ CD8⁺ T cells. A Proportions of T cells in peripheral PBMCs after SDN in sham and tMCAO mice. B Proportions of T cells in non-stroke controls and AIS patients. n = 60/group. C UMAP visualization showing 7 transcriptionally distinct T-cell subsets. D Proportions of GZMK⁺ T cells in non-stroke controls and AIS patients. n = 60/group. E Proportions of GZMK⁺ T cells in AIS patients before treatment, on day 1, and on day 7 after treatment. n = 60/group. F Spearman correlation between GZMK⁺ T-cell proportions and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores (pre-treatment). G Spearman correlation between GZMK⁺ T-cell proportions and NIHSS scores (day 7 post-treatment). H Proportions of GZMK⁺ T cells in patients with good outcomes (mRS 0–2) versus poor outcomes (mRS 3–6) post-treatment; n = 30 in the good outcome group and n = 30 in the poor outcome group. I Representative images showing immunostaining for CD3 (green) and GZMK (red) in the brains of AIS patients. J Gating strategy for determining the abundance of CD4⁺ GZMK⁺ T cells and CD8⁺ GZMK⁺ T cells via flow cytometry. K Proportions of CD8⁺ GZMK⁺ T cells in non-stroke controls and AIS patients. n = 60/group. L Proportions of CD8⁺ GZMK⁺ T cells in AIS patients before treatment, on day 1, and on day 7 after treatment. n = 60/group. M Spearman correlation between CD8⁺ GZMK⁺ T-cell proportions and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores (pre-treatment). N Spearman correlation between CD8⁺ GZMK⁺ T-cell proportions and NIHSS scores (day 7 post-treatment). O Proportions of CD8⁺ GZMK⁺ T cells in patients with good outcomes (mRS 0–2) versus poor outcomes (mRS 3–6) post-treatment; n = 30 in the good outcome group and n = 30 in the poor outcome group. The data are presented as the means ± SEMs. *P < 0.05; ***P < 0.001