Fig 5. Protection afforded by UV-inactivated parental or chimeric viruses.
Groups of mice previously vaccinated with 5μg prime and boost of each UV-inactivated parental (CHIKV or SFV) or chimeric (ΔDomA, ΔDomB or ΔDomC, ΔDomA+B) virus were challenged with 105 PFU of either wild-type CHIKV or SFV. Five days post-infection, 3 mice from each group were euthanized and brains and footpads were harvested for SFV and CHIKV challenge groups, respectively. Tissues were processed for hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. A-G. Hippocampal neurons from SFV challenged mice using a 25x objective. (A) Uninfected control, (B) CHIKV, (C) SFV, (D) ΔDomA, (E) ΔDomB, (F) ΔDomC, (G) ΔDomA+B. Scale bars represent 50 μM. Black arrows signify neuron degeneration. H-N. Decalcified footpads of CHIKV challenged mice using a 10x objective. (H) Uninfected control, (I) CHIKV, (J) SFV, (K) ΔDomA, (L) ΔDomB, (M) ΔDomC, (N) ΔDomA+B. Scale bars represent 100 μM. White arrows represent areas of mononuclear cell infiltration into the tissue.