Figure 4. Vaccination with Ad5-SP-D-4-1BBL or Ad5-SP-D-BAFF adjuvants enhance protection from a vaccinia-Gag viral challenge.

Panel A: BALB/c mice (5 per group) were immunized with Ad5-Gag with or without Ad5-SP-D-TNFSF ligand adjuvant constructs. Mice were vaccinated twice, two weeks apart. One month following the final vaccination, mice were challenged IP with 10⁷ VP vaccinia-Gag. Five days following vaccinia challenge mice were sacrificed and ovaries and uterus were removed, homogenized, and vaccinia virus was titered on Vero cells at various dilutions. After staining with crystal violet, viral plaques were counted and plaque-forming units (PFU) per mouse were calculated based on the total volume of ovary and uterus lysate. Panel B: Experiment similar to Panel A using SP-D-4-1BBL and SP-D-BAFF as vaccine adjuvants.