Fig. 2: ACT-DC captures AC-NPs in situ and migrates to the tumor-draining lymph nodes. | Nature Communications

Fig. 2: ACT-DC captures AC-NPs in situ and migrates to the tumor-draining lymph nodes.

From: Integrating antigen capturing nanoparticles and type 1 conventional dendritic cell therapy for in situ cancer immunization

Fig. 2

a CLSM images of MC38 tumors at the margin and center regions. Scale bars: 50 μm. Green: anti-CD103 (Alexa Fluor 647); Red: anti-CD11c (FITC); Blue: nucleus (DAPI). Representative of two independent experiments. b Flow plots showing CD103+ cDC1s in untreated or ACT-DC-treated MC38 tumors. c Percentage of CD103+ cDC1s in untreated (n = 4, biologically independent animals) or ACT-DC-treated (n = 5, biologically independent animals) MC38 tumors. d CLSM images of MC38 tumors 6 h after ACT-DC intratumoral administration. Scale bars: 100 μm. Green: anti-CD103 (Alexa Fluor 647); Red: nucleus (DAPI). Representative of two independent experiments. e–g Cell-level distribution of AC-NPs. e Schematic of experimental design. f Flow plots showing AC-NP distribution in tumor-resident (TR) cells and injected CD103+ cDC1s. g Distribution of AC-NPs in different cells in the tumor, 6 h after AC-NPs or ACT-DC injection (n = 4 for AC-NP, n = 5 for ACT-DC, biologically independent animals). AC-NPs and CD103+ cDC1s were labeled with DiD and IVISense DiR, respectively. h, i ACT-DC trafficking to tDLNs. h LagoX images of tDLNs, 6- or 20-h post ACT-DC injection. i Quantification of injected CD103+ cDC1s migrated to tDLNs (n = 5, biologically independent mice). CD103+ cDC1s were labeled with IVISense DiR. j–n AC-NPs enhanced antigen uptake and activation of transferred CD103+ cDC1s. j Schematic of experimental design. k Flow plot showing AF647-OVA in injected cDC1s migrated to tDLNs, 20 h after different treatments. l MFI of AF647-OVA in transferred CD103+ cDC1s in tDLNs (n = 5, biologically independent animals). m Flow plots showing CD86 expression on injected cDC1s in tDLN. n CD86 expression level on injected cDC1s in tDLNs (n = 5, biologically independent animals). In j–n, AF647-OVA was intratumorally administered 15 min before the injection of ACT-DC or control formulations. For c, g, i, l, n, data were presented as mean values ± SEM. Statistical analysis for (i): two-tailed unpaired Student’s t-test. Statistical analysis for (l, n): one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett test. For e, j, created in BioRender. Zhao, Z. (2025) https://BioRender.com/3ow34vf. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.

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