Fig. 3

Immune activation and correlation of CD8⁺ CD38⁺ HLA-DR⁺ cells with frequencies and suppressive capacity of PMN-MDSCs. a Frequencies of CD8 T cells expressing CD38 and HLA-DR were significantly higher in progressors (PR) than in controllers (CO) (p = 0.0031) and healthy controls (p = 0.0016). b CD8 T cells expressing CD38 and HLA-DR do not correlate with PMN-MDSC frequencies (rho = 0.085, p = 0.71) (b) and suppressive capacity (rho = − 0.25, p = 0.27) (c) in all subjects. d Representative dot plots and gating strategies of activated CD8 T cells. The first panel shows the lymphocyte population. The CD8 positive cells are gated in the second panel (rectangular gate). Afterwards, CD8 T cells were gated on the markers HLA-DR and CD38. [all subjects: n = 22; PR: n = 8; CO: n = 5; HC: n = 5; BRO: n = 4]