CCR7⁻CD56^bright NK cells exhibit phenotypic features of CD56^dimCD16⁺ cells.

<p>Representative expression data of CD62L, NKG2A, CD27, KIR3DL1, CD69 and CD16 on gated CCR7⁺ or CCR7⁻ CD56^bright cells and respective summary data including CD56^dimCD16⁺ NK cells, from untreated HIV-seropositive individuals. Numbers represent percentages of gated events and horizontal bars in dot plots indicate mean values. *, <i>P</i><0.05; **, <i>P</i><0.01; ***, <i>P</i><0.001.</p

Relative and absolute loss of CCR7⁺CD56^bright NK cells is not attributable to apoptosis.

<p>(A) Absolute cell numbers of CD56^bright NK cells are depicted. Horizontal bars indicate means. (B) Absolute cell numbers of either CCR7⁺ or CCR7⁻CD56^bright NK cells are shown. (C) Representative flow cytometry data of CD95 on gated CD56^bright NK cells and respective summary data derived from untreated HIV-patients. Numbers in flow cytometry plots indicate frequencies of quadrants and horizontal bars in dot plot indicate mean values. (D) Pearson’s correlation analysis between frequencies of CCR7- and CD69-expressing CD56^bright NK cells. *, <i>P</i><0.05; ***, <i>P</i><0.001; <i>NS</i> – not significant.</p

Functional differences between CCR7

<p>⁻<b>and CCR7⁺CD56^bright NK cells from HIV-infected donors indicate high activation states.</b> (A) Representative flow cytometry plots of granzyme B and perforin expression on gated CD56^bright NK cells and summary data including CD56^dimCD16⁺ cells, from untreated HIV-infected subjects. Horizontal bars in dot plots show mean values. Numbers in corners represent percentage of quadrant. (B) Representative histograms and summary data of CD107a degranulation in CD56^bright cells from uninfected controls, untreated and HAART-treated HIV-patients. Data was generated using sorted NK cells stimulated with IL-12, IL-15 and K452 cells. (C) Representative flow cytometry plot of CD107a degranulation on gated CD56^bright NK cells and summary data of degranulation in CCR7⁺CD56^bright, CCR7⁻CD56^bright and CD56^dim NK cells from untreated HIV-infected subjects is shown. Data was generated using whole PBMCs stimulated with IL-12, IL-15 and K562 cells. Numbers in corners represent percentage of quadrant. (D) Spontaneous expression of IFN-γ in medium-only treated NK cell subsets is shown in a representative flow cytometry plot and a summary data graph. Data from untreated HIV-positive patients is shown and numbers in corners indicate percentages of quadrants. (E) Representative Ki-67-expression data and summary data on gated CCR7⁺ or CCR7⁻ CD56^bright cells and respective summary data including CD56^dimCD16⁺ NK cells from untreated HIV-seropositive subjects. Numbers in flow cytometry histogram plots indicate percentage of gated events. ***, <i>P</i><0.001; <i>NS</i> – not significant.</p

Summary of demographical data of study participants.

<p>The profiles of all study participants are shown in a summary.</p

Loss of CCR7-expressing CD56^bright NK cells correlates with clinical disease markers.

<p>(A) Representative flow cytometry plots defining CD56^bright NK cells. Numbers indicate percentage of the gated population. (B) Representative CCR7, CD62L, CXCR3 and CD16 expression data and summary data all gated on CD56^bright NK cells. Horizontal bars in dot plot indicate mean values. (C) Pearson’s correlation analysis between frequencies of either CD62L⁺ or CD16⁺CD56bright NK cells and CCR7⁺CD56^bright NK cells in untreated HIV-seropositive patients. (D) Pearson’s correlation analysis between frequencies of CCR7⁺, CD62L⁺, CXCR3⁺ or CD16⁺ cells of total CD56^bright NK cells with either viral load or CD4⁺ T cell counts in untreated HIV-positive subjects. *, <i>P</i><0.05; ***, <i>P</i><0.001; <i>NS</i> – not significant.</p

An application of HOMER and ACMANT for homogenising monthly precipitation records in Ireland.

Climate change studies based only on raw long-term data are potentially flawed due to the many breaks introduced from non-climatic sources, consequently quality controlled and homogenised climate data is desirable for basing climate related decision making on. Seasonal cycles of precipitation in Ireland and the UK are projected to become more marked as the climate changes, and regional extremes in summer dry spells and winter precipitation have been recorded in recent years. Therefore to analyse and monitor the evolution of precipitation patterns across Ireland, quality controlled and homogenous climate series are needed

Differential expression of transcription factors in CD8⁺ T cells isolated at week 5 and week 20 post-vaccination with SIVΔnef and at week 20 post-infection with wild-type SIV.

<p>Symbols indicate log₂ expression relative to endogenous controls in cells from individual animals. Red symbols indicate Gag CM9-specific cells, blue symbols indicate Tat SL8-specific cells. Sample means are indicated by horizontal bars. Statistically significant (p≤0.05) differences in transcription factor expression between cells from week 5 and week 20 post-SIVΔnef vaccination, or between cells from week 20 post-SIVΔnef vaccination and week 20 post-wild-type SIV infection are indicated by horizontal bars with asterisks. Statistically significant differences between Gag CM9 and Tat SL8-specific cells are indicated by vertical bars with asterisks.</p

Principal component analysis heat maps of transcription factor expression profiles from SIV-specific MHC tetramer-sorted CD8⁺ T cells from animals vaccinated with SIVΔnef, and sorted naïve and memory CD8⁺ T cells.

<p>Heat map log₂ relative expression values were range normalized for each transcription factor.</p

Principal component analysis of transcription factor expression profiles from SIV-specific MHC tetramer-sorted CD8⁺ T cells from animals vaccinated with SIVΔnef, animals infected with wild-type SIV, and sorted CD8⁺ T cell subsets.

<p>Plot of principal components 1 and 2 for each of the expression profiles assessed from sorted naïve and memory CD8⁺ T cell subsets, SIV-specific MHC tetramer-sorted CD8⁺ T cells isolated from SIVΔnef-vaccinated animals, and MHC tetramer-sorted CD8⁺ T cells isolated from animals (n = 5) at 20 weeks following wild-type SIV infection. Principal components 1 and 2 explain 77 percent of cumulative total variance.</p

Differential expression of transcription factors in CD8⁺ naïve and memory T cell subsets.

<p>log₂ mean expression values were normalized to naïve cell samples.</p