Fig. 4: Targeting metabolism modulates cytokine release in PBMCs ex vivo model.

a Schematic representation of the experimental workflow. PBMCs, isolated from peripheral blood of the mock-infected and SARS-CoV-2-infected rhesus macaques, were seeded in 96-well plates with vehicle or different drugs dissolved in medium; 24 h post-seeding, cytokine abundance in cell culture was quantified. b–d Metabolism diagrams and level of indicated cytokines and chemokines measured 24 h after supplementation of 1.25 mM arginine (b), 0.1 mM IDO1 inhibitor Epacadostat (c), and 0.1 mM inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH) inhibitor mycophenolic acid (MPA, d) in PBMCs (n = 3). Data are presented as mean ± SEM. with individual data points shown. One-way ANOVA followed by Benjamini-Hochberg (BH) multiple comparison test.