TGF-β positive, IL-10 positive, and IFN-γ positive HIV-specific CD8+ T cell populations are distinct.

<p>PBMC were stimulated with HIV peptides then stained with anti-IFN-γ FITC, anti-TGF-β PE, anti-CD3 AmCyan, anti-CD4 PerCP Cy5.5, and anti-CD8 PE Cy7, anti-IL-10 APC, and analyzed by flow cytometry. Samples were first gated on the CD3+/CD8+ lymphocyte population then the percent of TGF-β, IFN-γ, and IL-10 positive CD8+ T cells were determined. (A) Data from individuals with significant cytokine expression and analysis were performed by Mann-Whitney <i>U</i> test. (B) Representative plots of the number of HIV-specific CD8+ T cells expressing TGF-β, IFN-γ, and IL-10 after subtraction of the back ground values.