Fig. 8: Vaccinated female mice transmit MCMV-specific IgG and protection to their offspring.

Female BALB/c mice were vaccinated with wt-MCMV or ΔM27-MCMV. At 5 weeks post vaccination, mice were mated to analyze the protection of the offspring. At ≤6 h postpartum, groups of five newborns derived from three dams (n = 5 × 3) were challenged i. p. with 500 PFU of MCMV:eGFP per mouse. At 9 d post challenge, the indicated organs were harvested and virus titers were determined by plaque titration. a Schema of the experimental design. The presence of MCMV-specific IgG was tested by ELISA for dams (b) and their offspring (c). ELISA reactivity of different dilutions of serum samples was analyzed. Values of individual serum dilutions and individual mice are shown. d Virus titers of brains of pups. e Virus titers of lungs of pups. f Virus titers of livers of pups. g Virus titers of spleens of pups. Bars depict the geometric mean, dots show the titers of individual mice. DL detection limit. All vaccinated groups were compared to the corresponding control group by Kruskal–Wallis test corrected for multiple comparisons by controlling the false discovery rate. ***p value <0.001.