Fig. 2: Uptake of NanoSTING by myeloid populations and epithelial cells in nasal tissue and lungs.

A Overall schematic for tracking the cellular targets of NanoSTING. The liposomes were formulated to encapsulate SRB (red dye) and the liposomes were conjugated to DiD (green dye). The dual-labeled liposomes were administered intranasally to mice, and the single-cell suspensions were analyzed using flow cytometry. The cell types of the murine nasal epithelium are shown schematically. B Quantification of DiD⁺ SRB⁺ cells in lungs and nasal tissue by flow cytometry. C Flow cytometric plots (pseudocolor-smooth) showing uptake of DiD & SRB in nasal tissue. D Quantification of DiD⁺ SRB⁺ epithelial cells (CD45⁻EPCAM⁺), endothelial (CD45⁻CD31⁺), and two myeloid cell subsets-CD45⁺EPCAM⁻CD11b⁺CD11c⁻ and CD45⁺EPCAM⁻CD11c⁺CD11b⁻ in lungs and nasal tissues by flow cytometry. E Flow cytometric plots (pseudocolor-smooth) showing uptake of DiD & SRB by epithelial cells in nasal tissue. F The percentages of epithelial cells (basal cells, secretory cells & ciliated cells) in nasal tissue. Individual data points represent independent biological replicates taken from separate animals; vertical bars show mean values with error bars representing SEM. Each dot represents an individual mouse. Data presented as combined results from (B–F) one independent animal experiment. Gender was not tested as a variable, and only female mice were included in the study. See also Supplementary Fig. 5 (gating strategy), Supplementary Table 4 (list of antibodies or conjugates used). Color codes: Lungs (Black), Nasal tissue (gray). A Created with BioRender.com released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.en). Number of animals used: n = 5/group. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.