Figure 10. In vivo efficacy of cholesterol-tagged VG-PEG24-Chol peptide.

(a) Cotton rats (n = 4) received 2 s.q. injections of peptide/day from day −1 to day 2 post intranasal infection with HPIV3 (10⁶ pfu/animal). Animals were euthanized after 3 days and virus titers were determined from lung homogenates in plaque assays. Peptide significantly reduced viral load (*p = 0.0286, using Mann-Whitney U-Test). (b) Peptide i.p. injections were given to groups of 6 hamsters from day −1 to day 10, concurrently with 100LD50 of live NiV (day 0). Untreated animals were injected with vehicle alone, while mock did not receive injection. Animals were followed for 3 weeks. Peptide significantly improved survival (**P = 0.0016, using Mantel-Cox test).