Fig. 2: Type-2 skewing of Tc cells is linked to asthma symptom severity.

A Quantification of IL-5⁺, IL-9⁺, and IL-13⁺ Tc cells using flow cytometry in PB samples of 17 HC individuals and asthma patients with 0-1 exacerbations (‘Exac.’, n = 16) or ≥2 exacerbations in the previous year (n = 38). B Quantification of IFNγ⁺IL-5⁺, IFNγ⁺IL-9⁺, and IFNγ⁺IL-13⁺ double-producing Tc cells in PB samples of 17 HC individuals and asthma patients with 0-1 exacerbations (‘Exac.’, n = 16) or ≥2 exacerbations in the previous year (n = 38). C Quantification of IL-5⁺, IL-9⁺, and IL-13⁺ Tc cells in PB samples of asthma patients with low/medium steroid dose intake (<1000 bioequivalent units, n = 23) and high steroid dose intake (>1000 dose bioequivalent units, n = 30). D Quantification of IL-5⁺, IL-9⁺, and IL-13⁺ Tc cells in 35 paired PB samples of asthma patients during stable disease and during an active exacerbation (‘Active exac’). E Quantification of type-2 cytokine production (combining all IL-4, IL-5, IL-9, and IL-13 producing cells) by Th and Tc cells in 17 HC individuals, 55 asthma patients, and during an active exacerbation (n = 35). F Pie charts summarizing proportions of Tc1, Tc2, and Tc17 cells in HCs, asthma patients, and during an active exacerbation. ‘% cytokines of total:’ indicates percentage of all Tc cells that produce one of the cytokine assayed. Symbols in A–E represent individual donors; Bars indicate mean values ±SEM. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001 (two-tailed Mann–Whitney U test, Wilcoxon rank-sum test, Kruskal–Wallis test corrected for multiple testing or Pearson correlation coefficient analysis), PB peripheral blood, HC healthy control, Tc1: cells producing IFNγ excluding double-producers of type-2 or type-3 cytokines, Tc2: any cell producing either IL-4 IL-5 IL-9 or IL-13, Tc17: cells producing IL-17A excluding double-producers of type-1 or type-2 cytokines. PB peripheral blood, HC healthy control. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.