Fig. 1

Characterization of circulating exhausted CD8⁺ T cells subsets in T1D. A Representative flow cytometry plots showing the gating strategy for exhausted CD8⁺ T cells subsets. B The frequencies of total exhausted CD8⁺ T cells and their subsets in patients with T1D (n = 87) and healthy controls (n = 111). C, D The expression of IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-2 in TPEX and TEX was measured by flow cytometry 5 h after stimulation with PMA, ionomycin, and brefeldin A (n = 45) in patients with T1D and healthy controls (n = 47). E Proliferation (assessed by CFSE dilution) of exhausted CD8⁺ T cells subsets plated for 3 days with CFSE-labeled plus anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 in T1D patients (n = 8) and healthy controls (n = 23). F–I Ki67, CD69, CD107, and GrB expression from exhausted CD8⁺ T cells subsets in T1D patients (n = 10) and healthy controls (n = 11). J The frequency of apoptotic cells within the exhausted CD8⁺ T cell subsets was assessed in both healthy controls (n = 11) and T1D patients (n = 10). *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001; ****P < 0.0001. Two-sided Student’s t test (B,C). Mann–Whitney test (D–J). FSC, forward-scatter; SSC, side-scatter; HC, healthy controls