Fig. 8.

Intravenously infused IRF5/IKKβ nanoparticles can control tumor metastases in the lung. a–g C57BL/6 albino mice were injected via the tail vein with 1 × 10⁶ B16F10 firefly luciferase-expressing melanoma cells to establish lung metastases. After 7 days, animals were randomly assigned to either the IRF5/IKKβ NP treatment group, a control GFP NP group, or a PBS control. a Time lines and dosing regimens. b Confocal microscopy of healthy lungs (left panel) and B16F10 tumor-infiltrated lungs (right panel). Infiltrating macrophage populations fluoresce in green. c Sequential bioluminescence tumor imaging. d Kaplan–Meier survival curves for each treatment group. ms, median survival. Statistical analysis was performed using the log-rank test, and P < 0.05 was considered significant. N = 10 biologically independent animals. e Representative photographs (top row) and micrographs of lungs containing B16F10 melanoma metastases representing each group following 2 weeks of treatment. Counts of lung tumor foci are summarized in (f). N = 5 biologically independent samples. g Phenotypic characterization of monocyte/macrophage populations in bronchoalveolar lavage from each treatment group (n = 5 biologically independent samples). The relative percentages of suppressive and activated macrophages are summarized by the data shown in (h)