Fig. 3

Tim-3⁺ NK cells display weaker activities than Tim-3⁻ NK cells in TIL from esophageal cancer patients. a Representative flow plots of IFN-γ, CD107a and CD69 expression on Tim-3⁺ NK cells and Tim-3⁻ NK cells. b Proportions of IFN-γ⁺ cells (n = 7), CD107a⁺ cells (n = 5) and CD69⁺ cells (n = 8) in Tim-3⁺ NK cells and Tim-3⁻ NK cells, respectively. c Relative mRNA expression of Tim-3, IFN-γ, granzyme B (GzmB), perforin (PRF) and NKG2D in sorted Tim-3⁺ NK cells and Tim-3⁻ NK cells, respectively (n = 5). *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ns, not significant