Extended Data Fig. 4: A strong reduction in the levels of hepatocellular core antigen expression is per se not sufficient to induce effector differentiation.
From: Dynamics and genomic landscape of CD8+ T cells undergoing hepatic priming
a, Schematic of the experimental setup. One million Cor93 TN cells were transferred into C57BL/6 (WT) or MUP-core recipients. Indicated wild-type mice were injected with 3 × 1010 viral genomes of AAV-core 15 days before Cor93 TN cell transfer. Livers were collected and analysed 5 days after Cor93 TN cell transfer. b, Representative confocal immunofluorescence micrographs of a liver section from an AAV-core-injected mouse 15 days after virus injection. Transduced hepatocytes are depicted in green and nuclei in grey. Scale bar, 50 μm. n = 3 mice. c–e, Absolute numbers of total (c) and IFNγ-producing (d) Cor93 T cells in the livers of the indicated mice 5 days after Cor93 TN cell transfer. e, ALT levels detected in the sera of the indicated mice. n = 3 (WT and MUP-core) and 5 (AAV-core). f, Schematic of the experimental setup. One million Cor93 TN cells were transferred into 8- or 4-week-old (wo) MUP-core mice. Livers were collected and analysed 5 days after Cor93 TN cell transfer. g, Expression of HBV core antigen (HBcAg) in the livers of the indicated mice was analysed by western blotting. h, Quantification of the western blot shown in g. Core expression, normalized to the housekeeping nuclear protein H3, is expressed as arbitrary units (A.U.). n = 1 (WT) and 3 (MUP-core 8wo and MUP-core 4wo). i, Immunohistochemical micrographs of liver sections from the indicated mice, showing core antigen expression (brown). Scale bars, 50 μm. CV, central vein; PV, portal vein. n = 3 mice. j, k, Absolute numbers of total (j) and of IFNγ-producing (k) Cor93 T cells in the livers of the indicated mice 5 days after Cor93 TN cell transfer. n = 4 mice. l, ALT levels detected in the sera of the indicated mice. n = 4. Data are mean ± s.e.m. and representative of two independent experiments. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post-test (c–e) or two-tailed t-test (h, j–l). Mouse drawings were adapted from ref. 69.
