Fig. 3

CD8⁺ T cells isolated from RCC patient TC exhibit a sustained pro-apoptotic phenotype even after extended MLTC. Expression of Annexin-V by CD8⁺ T cells isolated from patient TC or normal donors pre- and post-MLTC culture is reported. Data represent the mean ±SD percentage of apoptotic cells determined from triplicate cultures using flow cytometry. Apoptotic cells were calculated as the sum of early and late apoptotic cells. These data were reproduced in three independent experiments. At day 0, TC CD8⁺ T cells showed an increase in apoptotic cells compared to donor 2 and donor 3 (p < 0.0001 and p < 0.0001 by Student’s unpaired t-test). In vitro stimulation caused a slight decrease in apoptotic cell numbers in patient TC CD8⁺ T cells, but they were still higher than controls (p < 0.0035, p < 0.0001, respectively)