Fig. 2

C4BPA stimulation in human PBMCs. a PBMC culture protocol. b Representative scatter plots of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells in the control, rhC4BPA stimulation, and CD40L stimulation groups, as analyzed by flow cytometry. c Number of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ cells in each group. After PBMCs were stimulated with rhC4BPA and CD40L, the number of both CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells in these two stimulation groups significantly increased compared with that in the control group (rhC4BPA stimulation: **P < 0.01, CD40L stimulation: *P < 0.05, Welch’s t-test). Results are represented as the mean ± SD. Each experiment was performed at least three times, independently.