Interferon-α-Induced Changes to Natural Killer Cells Are Associated with the Treatment Outcomes in Patients with HCV Infections

Figure 2

The surface markers of the NK cells before and after stimulation. The isolated NK cells were rested or stimulated with LPS and IFN-α for 2 days. Between (a) and (b), the CD3 and CD56 markers on the NK cells were not changed after stimulation. At (c), the resting NK cells were characterized as CD56+CD16− cells (4.3%), CD56+CD16+ cells (85.9%), and CD56−CD16+ cells (7.8%). At (d), the stimulated NK cells were characterized as CD56+CD16− cells (15.4%), CD56+CD16+ cells (81.7%), and CD56−CD16+ cells (2.0%).