Fig. 1: Tumor-intrinsic FLI1 promotes CD8⁺ T cell exhaustion.

A Venn diagram displaying differentially expressed transcription factors between high and low T-cell-exhaustion groups in NPC, COAD, READ, LUSC and SKCM. B–E WT and FLI1-KO NPC cells were cocultured with activated human CD8⁺ T cells for 48 h. The expression of PD-1 (B) and TIM-3 (C) on CD8⁺ T cells was determined by flow cytometry. The IFN-γ (D) and TNF-α (E) levels in culture supernatants were measured by ELISA. Error bars represent the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. Statistical significance was determined using one-way ANOVA with Tukey multiple comparisons test. MFI, mean fluorescence intensity. F–O WT or FLI1-KO MC38 cells were inoculated into C57BL/6 mice, and tumors were dissected at day 21 (F). The tumor growth rate (G) and endpoint tumor weight (H) are reported. The percentage of CD8⁺ T cells among CD45⁺ T cells (I), the expression of PD-1 (J) and TIM-3 (K) on CD8⁺ T cells, and the expression of IFN-γ (L) and TNF-α (M) in CD8⁺ T cells isolated from the indicated tumors were measured by flow cytometry. The percentages of cleaved caspase3- (N) and Ki67- (O) positive cells from tumors were analyzed by IHC staining. Data (n = 6) shown are mean ± SD. Statistical significance was determined using two-way ANOVA (G) and two-tailed unpaired t test (H–O). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.