Characterization of the cellular and transcriptomic landscapes of natural killer cells in hematopoietic microenvironment of myelodysplastic syndrome

Figure 2 Comparison of the immunophenotype and components between expanded myelodysplastic syndrome natural killers and expanded healthy donor natural killers. A: Representative phase contrast images of myelodysplastic syndrome natural killers (MDS-NKs) and healthy donor natural killers (HD-NKs) at the indicated time points (day 0, 7, 14) during the 14-day’s ex vivo expansion and activation. Scale bar = 100 μm; B: Fold change of total natural killers (NK) cells in the MDS-NKs and HD-NKs groups; C: Representative flow cytometry diagrams of CD3^-CD56⁺ total NK cells in the MDS-NKs and HD-NKs groups; D: Statistical analyses of CD3^-CD56⁺ total NK cells between the indicated groups (resident MDS-NKs vs resident HD-NKs, expanded MDS-NKs vs expanded HD-NKs); E and F: Representative flow cytometry diagrams (E) and statistical analyses (F) of total activated CD3^-CD56⁺CD16⁺ NK cells and the indicated subsets (NKG2D⁺, CD25⁺, NKp44⁺, and NKp46⁺) in the indicated groups. Data were shown as mean ± SEM (n = 3 repetitions for each sample). ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01, ^cP < 0.001, ^dP < 0.0001, NS: Not significant. MDS-NKs: Myelodysplastic syndrome natural killers; HD-NKs: Healthy donor natural killers; NK: Natural killer; eMDS-NKs: Expanded myelodysplastic syndrome natural killers; eHD-NKs: Expanded healthy donor natural killers; rMDS-NKs: Resident myelodysplastic syndrome natural killers; rHD-NKs: Resident healthy donor natural killers.