Fig 6. Disrupting the DUB activity of SARS-CoV-2 PLpro does not affect the immune response in the lungs of infected K18-hACE2 mice.

K18-hACE2 mice were infected intranasally with 1x10⁴ pfu wild-type or DUB mutant SARS-CoV-2 or mock-infected with DMEM. Lungs were collected at 2 and 4 dpi and immune responses were analyzed by RT-qPCR. (A) Immune responses at 2 dpi. (B) Immune responses at 4 dpi. N = 4 mice per group for the mock and n = 6 mice per group for the SARS-CoV-2-infected groups. Data are represented as mean ± s.e.m. Data were analyzed using Welch ANOVA with Dunnett’s T3 multiple comparisons test, comparing each group to wild-type SARS-CoV-2. * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001.