Fig 4. PIC Ⅱ promotes CXCL16-expressed M1 macrophages to recruit and
activate NK cells. (A) The heatmap and clusters of NK cell-related
markers. (B) GSEA analysis of NK cell mediated immune response. (C) The
protein levels of CXCR6, STAT1, GZMB and PERFORIN were measured by
western blot and normalized by β-ACTIN in the mice liver.
Quantifications were performed using Image J . (D) Schematic of
transwell co-culture system of macrophages and NK cells. (E)
Representative transwell images of primary NK cells. (F) Representative
images of immunofluorescence staining for CD161 and CXCL16 in the
primary NK cells. Scale bar = 100 μm. (G) Relative expression of mRNA
levels of Cxcr6 was measured by qPCR and further normalized withHprt1 in the liver and co-cultured NK cells. (H) The protein
level of CXCR6 was measured by western blot and normalized by β-ACTIN in
the co-cultured NK cells (n = 6). Statistical significance: *P< 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P <
0.001, compared with the control group; #P< 0.05, ##P < 0.01,
compared with the model group (n = 6).