Hepatitis C Virus Induces Regulatory T Cells by Naturally Occurring Viral Variants to Suppress T Cell Responses

Figure 6

PBMC proliferative responses to NS3_358–375 peptide variants and mixes with wild-type peptide in cultures depleted of CD4⁺CD25⁺ Treg cells. Subject 3019 total or Treg-depleted PBMC were stimulated with peptide variants and measured ³H-TdR-uptake. Results are mean counts of six wells each +/- SEM, representative of three independent experiments. Gray bar, individual peptide; stripped bars, CD4⁺CD25⁺ Treg-depleted PMBC. *𝑃<.05 as determined by Student’s t-test. **𝑃<.005.