Fig. 5.

DGP prevents ZIKV-induced mortality in type I Interferon receptor knockout mice (Ifnar1^−/−). C57BL/6 Ifnar1^−/− mice were subcutaneously challenged (footpad) with 5 PFUs of the ZIKV strain MR766 in conjunction with the indicated amounts of DGP solubilized in PBS. Mortality (A,C) and body weight (B,D) were monitored daily for 15 days post-challenge. Mock challenges were performed using PBS alone. Each challenged group contained 6 mice, which were 3–4 week-old. Mice were weighed daily, excluding the day that they were found dead or sacrificed. Weights are expressed as percentage of body weight prior to infection, and standard deviations are shown. (E) Three independent groups of mice were challenged by injecting ZIKV(5 PFU) in conjunction with 0.2 mg/kg, or 1 mg/kg of DGP. As a control, mice were only injected with ZIKV(5 PFU). Mice were sacrificed 6 days post-infection and used to determine viral loads in brain (upper panel) and spleen (lower panel). Organs were lysed, and total RNA was extracted using TRIzol as described in Methods. Total RNA was used to determine the levels of ZIKV RNA by qRT-PCR using specific primers against ZIKV. Viral RNA levels were normalized to actin. Log-Rank (Mantel-Cox) test is shown.