Fig. 4: Light-induced activation of immunological adjuvant effect of LIA in vitro.

a–f Flow cytometry analysis of bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) maturation after the cells were incubated with PBS, HAD, rHAD or lipopolysaccharide (LPS). a–c Flow cytometric histograms of CD80 (a), CD86 (b) and CD40 (c) expressions in BMDCs after different treatments (gated on CD11C⁺ cells). d–f Quantification of CD80 (d), CD86 (e) and CD40 (f) expressions after BMDCs treated with different groups. g, h TNF-α (g) and IL-6 (h) concentrations in BMDCs culture supernatants after 12 h incubation with different formulations (n = 3). i Schematic illustration of the transwell system experiment. 4T1 tumour cells were first placed in the upper chamber and treated with different formulations, then BMDCs were cultured in the lower chamber. j Proportions of CD80⁺ CD86⁺ BMDCs after treated with different treatments (gated on CD11C⁺ cells, n = 3). k, l Transcriptomic analysis of BMDCs after treated with PBS, HAD and rHAD. Three biological replicates are shown. k Heat map of DEGs is indicated for each group and Key DEGs are listed on the right. l KEGG enrichment analysis of the pathways between rHAD treatment and PBS treatment. m Molecular docking of HAD and rHAD head groups with TLR7. Grid score values are calculated from the simulation. Data in d–h are presented as mean ± s.d. (n = 3) and statistically significant differences between groups were identified by one-way ANOVA. Data in j are presented as mean ± s.d. (n = 3) and statistically significant differences between groups were identified by two-tailed unpaired Student’s t-test. ****P < 0.0001, ***P < 0.001, **P < 0.01, *P < 0.05.