Fig. 4: Late-stage tumors facilitate the differentiation of T_RM stem-like T cells in TDLN.

a Experimental design for (b) to (e). Filled circle, TDLN, empty square, NDLN, empty circle, spleen, filled triangle, blood and empty triangle, tumor. The percentage of Pmel-1 T cells in total CD8⁺ cells (b, n = 12/each), the percentage of stem-like subset in Pmel-1 T cells (c) and the percentage of CD69⁺CD103⁺ cells in stem-like Pmel-1 T cells (d) isolated from different tissues of tumor-bearing mice are shown. For c and d, n = 16 for TDLN, NDLN, and spleen; n = 12 for blood and tumor. e Representative FACS profiles of stem-like (Upper) and non-stem (Lower) Pmel-1 T cells isolated from different tissues are shown. f Experimental design for (g) to (k). Black, early tumor and red, later tumor. g Tumor weight for early vs late time points is shown (n = 5/each). h The percentage of Pmel-1 T cells in total CD8 in TDLN is shown (n = 5/each). i Representative FACS profiles of pre-gated Tcf-1⁺ Pmel-1 T cells from TDLN are shown. j The percentage of CD69⁺ subset in Tcf-1⁺Pmel-1 T cells isolated from TDLN is shown (n = 5/each). k Nonlinear regression of the percentage of CD69⁺ among Tcf-1⁺Pmel-1 T cells in TDLN vs tumor weight of the same animal (n = 10). l Experimental design for (m) to (p). Filled square, Pmel-1 first and empty square, Pmel-1 later. m Representative FACS profiles of TDLN Pmel-1 T cells overlaid with host CD8⁺ T cells are shown. n The percentage of CD44^hi cells in TDLN Pmel-1 T cells are shown (Pmel first, n = 3 and Pmel later, n = 4). o Representative FACS profiles of pre-gated Tcf-1⁺ Pmel-1 T cells in TDLN are shown. p The percentage of CD69⁺CD103⁺ cells in Tcf-1⁺Pmel-1 T cells are shown (Pmel first, n = 3 and Pmel later, n = 4). Data are presented as mean ± SEM. Each symbol represents the results from an individual recipient. N.S., not significant (p > 0.05), ****p < 0.0001 and indicated p values are calculated by Ordinary one-way ANOVA with multi-comparison posttest (b–d) or Student t-test (g–p). Two-sided tests were used. Source data are provided as a Source data file.