Figure 6

Tax _11–19 -specific but not HBZ _26–34 -specific CTLs kill Tax-expressing primary cells efficiently. Purified CD4⁺ cells from 7 AC (circular symbols), 1 P (square symbols), 7 HAM (triangular symbols), were cultured for 24 h alone, or in the presence of Tax-1 or HBZ-1 at an E:T ratio of 3:1. After incubation, surface and intracellular markers were stained and analysed by flow cytometry. (A) Tax staining for one representative individual; (B) frequency of Tax expression; (C) intensity of HLA-A*0201 expression for 15 individuals in the presence or absence of CTL selection. Statistics: Wilcoxon matched pairs test, two-tailed. NS = not significant. Differences observed were statistically significant regardless of whether the outlier (HEZ) was included or excluded. Bars denote mean ± SEM. See Additional file 6 for donor characteristics.