Desensitization of T lymphocyte function by CXCR3 ligands in human hepatocellular carcinoma

Figure 6 Expression of CXCR3 on normal CD⁴⁺ or CD⁸⁺ T cells incubated with unconditioned medium or medium conditioned with the tumor cell lines or a control cell line. Cell culture supernatants conditioned for 3 d by the HCC cell lines Hep3B, HuH-7 or the control cell line MIHA were collected. Freshly isolated normal PBLs were incubated in unconditioned or conditioned medium for 20 h and T cell expression of CXCR3 was assessed by flow cytometry. Diminished CXCR3 expression on CD⁴⁺ T cells (A) and CD⁸⁺ T cells (B) was observed following incubation in HCC cell line supernatants whilst the control cell line supernatant had no significant effect. Data represent the median and the 25^th, 75^th and 90^th percentiles, n = 8, ^aP<0.05 vs medium control.