Figure 5

Expansion of circulating of IL-17-producing CD4⁺T cells induced by activated human hepatic stellate cells in vitro. a: increased expression of circulating IL-17 producing CD4⁺ T cells in HCC patients after stimulation with conditioned medium (CM) which was determined by flow cytometry; b: the representative flow cytometry data from 12 HCC patients. The right panel was treated by a 1:1 mixture of fresh CM of HSCs or control medium (RPMI1640 with 5%FBS), and the left panel was only stimulated with control medium. *P <0.01 compared with IL-17-producing CD4⁺ T cells before stimulation with CM; ^#P <0.01 compared with haemangioma patients.