Fig. 7: mtDSN-2 inflames the tumor microenvironment to enhance ICB response.

a Schedule for inducing resistance to PD-1 blockade in MC38 tumors to assess the immune synergy of mtDSN-2 to ICB. i.p., intraperitoneal, i.t., intratumoral, s.c., subcutaneous. b Tumor growth kinetics of MC38 and MC38 anti-PD-1-resistant tumors (MC38/R) in response to PD-1 blockade (n = 9 mice/group). Immunofluorescence staining (c) and quantitative analysis (d) of CD8⁺ T-cell infiltration in S0 and S3 tumors. Statistics from four independent tumors. Individual MC38/R tumor growth curves (e) and average tumor growth profiles (f) in each group (n = 9 mice/group). g Kaplan–Meier survival of MC38/R tumor-bearing C57BL/6 mice (n = 9 mice/group). P indicates the statistical significance relative to the saline-treated group. Immunofluorescence staining (h) and quantitative analysis (i) of CD11c⁺ dendritic cell and CD8⁺ T-cell infiltration in tumors. Data of eight different views from 3 biologically independent samples. Individual CT26 tumor growth curves (j) and average tumor growth curves (k) in BALB/c mice (n = 10 mice/group). l Kaplan–Meier survival of CT26 tumor-bearing BALB/c mice (n = 10 mice/group). P indicates the statistical significance relative to the saline-treated group. Immunofluorescence staining (m) and quantitative analysis (n) of CD11c⁺ dendritic cell and CD8⁺ T-cell infiltration in CT26 tumors. Data of six different views from three biologically independent samples. The data are presented as the mean ± s.d. NS: not significant. Statistical analysis by two-way ANOVA with Turkey’s multiple comparisons test (b, f, k), Student’s t test (d), log-rank test (g, l), Brown-Forsythe and Welch ANOVA with Dunnett’s T3 multiple comparisons test (i), or one-way ANOVA with Turkey’s multiple comparisons test (n). Source data are provided as a Source data file.