Fig. 7. (D)PVF-tet rescues mice from the lethality of IAV infection by specifically targeting AT-II cells.
a, b Female BALB/c mice were intranasally infected or not infected (Mock) with 2000 pfu IAV strain PR8 with or without 1.25 or 2.5 mg/kg (D)PVF-tet. The body weight of each mouse is presented as a percentage of the body weight on day 0 (a, left panel). The survival rate of each group is shown (a, right panel). Each group contained 8–10 mice. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01 (by Log rank test). The virus titer in the mouse lungs harvested 3 or 5 days after infection was determined by plaque forming assay b. Each group contained six mice. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01 (by Mann–Whitney U test). c Female BALB/c mice were intranasally infected or not infected (Mock) with mouse-adapted IAV strain A/California/04/2009 (H1N1 pdm, 3 × 105 pfu) or mouse-adapted IAV strain A/Aichi/2/1968 (H3N2, 3 × 104 pfu) with or without intranasal co-injection with 2.5 mg/kg (D)PVF-tet. The body weight of each mouse is presented as a percentage of the body weight on day 0. The survival rate of each group is shown. Each group contained 9–10 mice. *P < 0.05; ***P < 0.001 (by log rank test). d, e Immunohistochemical analysis of the lungs harvested 3 days after infection. AT-II cells were stained using anti-Pro-SP-C antibody d. Localization of ABCA3, HA, or FITC-(D)PVF-tet in lung sections was examined by immunohistochemical analysis e. The nuclei were stained with DAPI. Scale bars represent 50 μm in d and 20 μm in e. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.