Fig. 5: Characteristics of CD39⁺ Treg and the clinical relevance with MN.

A Immunofluorescence images showing the distribution of CD39⁺ Tregs in IMN and healthy kidney, using antibodies CD4, FOXP3, and CD39. Scale bars, 100 μm. B Boxplots showing the fraction of CD39⁺ Tregs in IMN (blue) and healthy kidney (red) samples calculated by the regions of interest from immunofluorescence images. The CD39⁺ Treg ratio was defined as the count of CD39⁺ Tregs occupies the count of all the cells observed in a slide. The P-value was calculated by the Wilcoxon test. The error bars represent the error margins. C Bar chart showing the enrichment of specific biological processes and signaling pathways of CD39⁺ Tregs, based on the signature gene set consisting of the marker genes of CD39⁺ Tregs obtained from the single-cell transcriptome data. The scale bars and line charts were integrated to show the proportion of genes (accounting for the 83 genes) that were enriched in each GO term or pathway. D Boxplots showing the CD39⁺ Tregs signature scores of different pathological groups of nephrotic syndrome and normal kidney samples in the NEPTUNE dataset. The error bars represent the error margins. E Boxplot showing the CD39⁺ Tregs signature scores of the complete remission (CR) group and that of the not-CR group. The error bars represent the error margins. F Stacked bar plot showing the CR ratio in high-score and low-score groups (grouped by the median of CD39⁺ Tregs signature score). G Kaplan-Meier analysis shows the CR rate of patients with the time spent on treatment, characterized by either low (blue) or high (yellow) CD39+ Tregs signature scores. H Immunofluorescence images showing the distribution of CD39⁺ Tregs in tissue slides of patients who achieved CR or did not after Rituximab treatment, using antibodies CD4, FOXP3, and CD39. Scale bars, 300 μm. I Boxplots showing the fraction of CD39⁺ Tregs in CR (blue) and Not-CR (red) IMN samples calculated by the regions of interest from immunofluorescence images. The CD39⁺ Treg ratio was defined as the count of CD39⁺ Tregs occupies the count of all the cells observed in a slide. The P-value was calculated by the Wilcoxon test. The error bars represent the error margins. The median CR time, the number of patients, and the risk classification are indicated in the figure. Significance was calculated using the log-rank test. MN membranous nephropathy, IMN idiopathic membranous nephropathy, FSGS focal segmental glomerular sclerosis, MCD minimal change disease, LD live donor, CR complete remission.