Total RNA was extracted from harvested CD8+ T cells using TRIzol

Total RNA was extracted from harvested CD8+ T cells using TRIzol (Invitrogen) according to the manufacturer’s instructions, followed by reverse X-396 transcription using oligo (dT) primers at 42 °C for 30 min and at 95 °C for 5 min. The cDNA

was used as a template for real-time PCR amplification. The real-time PCR was performed using the following conditions: 95 °C for 3 min, and 95 °C for 30 s, 60 °C 30 s, 72 °C 1 min for 40 cycles and then 72 °C 10 min. The expression level of GAPDH mRNA was measured as an internal control, and relative expression was determined using the △△Ct calculation method. Relative perforin or IFN-γ expression between control and experimental groups was calculated using the 2−△△Ct formula. The primer sequences were as follows: perforin (forward) INCB024360 chemical structure 5′-CATGTAACCAGGGCCAAAGTC-3′ and (reverse) 5′-ATGAAGTGGGTGCCGTAGTTG-3′; IFN-γ (forward) 5′ CTAATTATTCGGTAACTGACTTGA-3′ and (reverse) 5′ ACAGTTCAGCCATCACTTGGA. Human GAPDH was amplified as an internal control using the forward primer (5′-ACCCACTCCTCCACCTTTGA-3′) and the reverse primer (5′-TGGTGGTCCAGGGGTCTTAC-3′). Real-time PCR was performed on an ABI 7500 Real-Time PCR System using the SYBR Green qPCR SuperMix UDG Kit (Invitrogen). Serum HBsAg, HBsAb, HBeAg, anti-HBe and HBcAb were determined quantitatively using an electrochemiluminescence immunoassay

(ECLIA) on the Roche Elecsys 2010 immunoassay analyser (Roche, Basel, Switzerland). Serum levels of HBV DNA were quantified with a high-sensitivity fluorescent real-time polymerase chain reaction kit (DaAn Gene Co., Guangzhou, China) and amplified in a PE5700 fluorescence PCR apparatus (Perkin-Elmer, Boston, MA, USA). The results PJ34 HCl were expressed as HBV DNA copies per millilitre of serum, and the detection sensitivity of the PCR assay was 1 × 103 copies/ml. Data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation. The Mann–Whitney U-test was used to perform nonparametric

statistical analysis between two independent groups of patients with the SPSS 13.0 for Windows (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA). Spearman’s correlation or linear regression was used for correlation analysis. A P-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Because HBcAg of HBV is known to have strong immunogenicity for eliciting antigen-specific CD4+ T cell and humoral response, we stimulated PBMCs of HBV-infected patients with rHBcAg and examined for antigen-specific IL-21-producing CD4+ T cells by intracellular cytokine flow cytometry. As shown in Fig. 1A, although HBcAg-specific IL-21+ CD4+ T cells were undetectable in healthy controls, HBcAg-specific IL-21-producing CD4+ T cells can be detected in HBV-infected individuals. The frequencies of HBcAg-specific IL-21-producing CD4+ T cells in AHB patients were significantly higher than that in patients with chronic HBV infection, regardless of disease stage.

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