Fig. 7: TLR4⁺ T cells express inflammatory chemokine receptors CCR2 and CXCR6.

a t-SNE plots of peripheral blood total CD4⁺ T cells. The color indicates cell expression levels of labeled markers (TLR4, CCR2, CCR6, IL-1R). Circle demarks TLR4⁺ cells (n = 6 RA patients). b, c Representative plots and cumulative graph (n = 12 RA patients) of CCR2 b frequency and c ΔMFI in TLR4⁺ (red) and TLR4⁻ (gray) T cells. d, e Representative plots and cumulative graph (n = 12 RA patients) of CCR6 d frequency and e ΔMFI in TLR4⁺ (red) and TLR4⁻ (gray) T cells. ΔMFI was calculated to correct for the distinct autofluorescence of the TLR4⁻ and TLR4⁺ T-cell populations. ΔMFI was calculated by subtracting the fluorescence intensity minus one (FMO) from median fluorescence intensity (MFI) for each given marker. Data are presented as mean ± SD, for parametric statistical tests, or median ± IQR, for non-parametric statistical tests. Sample normality distribution was tested by using D’Agostino & Pearson normality test. P values ****p ≤ 0.0001, ***p ≤ 0.001, **p ≤ 0.01, *p ≤ 0.05 were determined by (b, e) Wilcoxon matched-pairs rank test and (c, d) Paired t test. Effect size measures ⁺⁺⁺high, ⁺⁺medium, ⁺small were determined by (b, e) r – correlation coefficient r and (c, d) d – Cohen’s d.