Fig. 4: Ablation of TβRI in hepatocytes drives the assembly of stem-like CD8⁺ T cells in a TAMs-independent manner.

a Experimental setup to assess the indispensable role of TAMs or CD8⁺ T cells in improving metastatic outcomes of PAN02-bearing mice resulting from hepatocytic-TβRI ablation. b The M1-to-M2 ratio. c Representative bioluminescent image of TβRI-hWT and TβRI-hKO mice treated with vehicle (veh), Clodronate (CLD) liposome or αCD8 (n = 5 mice/group). d Survival curve of tumor-bearing mice for the indicated groups described in (c). Log-rank test for survival comparison. e Quantification of (c). f Representative flow cytometry plots and Statistical analysis depicting the percentages of Tex subsets in liver metastases of veh or CLD liposome-treated TβRI-hWT and TβRI-hKO mice on days 28. g Representative bioluminescent image and liver macroscopic image of TβRI-hWT and TβRI-hKO mice inoculated with PAN02 + BMDM or PAN02 alone (n = 5 mice/group). h Quantification of (g). i Statistical analysis depicting the percentages of Tex subsets about the indicated groups. Data are presented as the mean ± SD, and were analyzed with one-way (h) or two-way (b, e, f, i) ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparison test. Consistent results were observed across three biological replicates in (b–i). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.