Fig. 5: Distinct immune cell composition in the tumor microenvironment of HIV positive and HIV negative breast cancer patients.

A Multiplex IHC using an Ab panel directed against CD3 (yellow), CD8 (magenta), FoxP3 (turquoise) and counterstained with DAPI (blue). The scale bar depicts 50 µm. For the analysis from each sample three areas were selected and cell counts and marker expression was extracted. B–D The amount of T cell subsets in the BC TME of HIV negative patients and WLWH. The mean is given as a dashed line and the standard deviation is given as a dot line. Categories were compared using the Mann–Whitney U test and p-values are given as numbers if p < 0.05. E–H Scatter plot, overlaid with the corresponding linear regression model and associated p value (two-sided) is shown for the correlation of different immune cell subsets in the TME and the numbers of CD4 + T cells in the peripheral blood. I The spatial distribution (mean distance of CD3 + T cells and CD8 + T cells; FoxP3+ Tregs and CD3 + T cells, FoxP3+ Tregs and CD8 + T cells as well as CD3 + T cells and panCK+ cancer cells) was analyzed and is shown with box plots. The mean is given as a dashed line and the standard deviation is given as a dot line. J Representative picture of a CD276 immunohistochemistry with a strong stained and a negative case. K CD276 was analyzed by two pathologists independently using an H score and the expression in WLWH and HIV negative patients is shown in box plots. The mean is given as a dashed line and the standard deviation is given as a dot line. L Bar graph shows the percentage of CD3 + CD8- (blue), CD3 + CD8+ (red), CD3+FoxP3+ (yellow), and all other cells (gray, e.g., stroma, tumor cells) separated by HIV status and is association with TIL numbers in the stroma evaluated on the H&E stained, as well as the CD276/B7-H3 expression analyzed by IHC. M–O Association of CD276 expression and CD4 + T cell numbers in the peripheral blood, TILs in the TME, and CD3 + CD8+ is shown with a scatter plot, overlaid with the corresponding linear regression model and associated p-values (two-sided) are given. Abbreviations: TILs tumor infiltrating lymphocyte, WLWH - IS women living with HIV – immune suppressed, WLWH - VS women living with HIV–viral suppressed.