Fig. 2: Nature of immunity and protection conferred by RHV-rn1 and mutant viruses.
A Anti-NS3 IgG titers in the serum of rats infected with RHV-rn1 and different mutants (n = 6). Data are presented as individual values and mean ± SEM. Two-tailed paired t-test was used for analysis, and p-values < 0.01 or 0.05 were considered statistically significant; p-values between day14 and day42 for RHV-rn-1 (**, 0.002), R2-CDLR (**, 0.01), R3-CDLR (**, 0.002), R2-UpA (*, 0.034), and R2-CpG (*, 0.035). Sequences of R2 and R3 regions of RHV-rn1 and mutants are available as Supplementary Information S3. B Spot forming units (SFU) indicating the IFN-γ secreting T cells in ELISPOT assay in PBMC stimulated with a pool of peptides representing the RHV-rn1 T cell epitopes. PBMC were collected on 28-31 dpi. SFU in the antigen pool of mutants was compared to RHV-rn1 (n = 8 rats) using a two-tailed unpaired t-test, and p-values for R3-CpG (*, 0.0285) and R3-UpA (**, 0.001) as compared to RHV-rn1 in Antigen-Pool. Data points are presented as individual values and error bar at mean ± SD. C Image of ELIPOST assay showing the SFU counts in rats infected with R3-UpAhigh and RHV-rn1 at 28 dpi. D Outline of vaccination and challenge studies. E, F Rats that cleared the R-2 and R-3 mutants were challenged with wild-type RHV-rn1 and followed for viremia for >2 months post-infection. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
