In vivo studies in mice. (A) Schematic representation
of the study design and timeline of the analysis. (B) Anti-PCS5 antibody
levels after the intramuscular administration of the three nanoformulations
CS/DS–PCS5 (black bars), CS–PCS5/DS/pIC (white bars),
and CS/HA–PCS5/pIC (gray bars) to 50 mice per group. Values
represent mean ± SEM (n ≥ 5). Statistical
comparison between groups was done using a Mann–Whitney test.
Significant statistical differences are represented as * (p < 0.05), ** (p < 0.01), *** (p < 0.001), and **** (p < 0.0001)
for comparison between groups and to naïve mice. Mouse and
syringe images in (A) were reproduced from Servier Medical Art under
a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0. Key: NPs, nanoparticles; CS, chitosan; DS, dextran sulfate; PCS5,
protease cleavage site 5; pIC, poly(I:C) (polyinosinic:polycytidylic
acid); HA, hyaluronic acid.