Fig. 3: LNP-CasRx-pre-gCtsl treatment protects K18-hACE2 mice against lethal SARS-CoV-2 infection.
From: Cas13d knockdown of lung protease Ctsl prevents and treats SARS-CoV-2 infection
a, Schematic illustration of the experimental design. Seven-to eight-week-old K18-hACE2 female and male mice were intranasally infected with 105 PFU of SARS-CoV-2 (USA-WA1/2020). They were treated with DPBS, eLNPs, LNP-CasRx-pre-gControl or LNP-CasRx-pre-gCtsl through the retro-orbital injections 2 days before and 1 DPI. Each group consists of ten mice (five females and five males) except for nine mice in the eLNPs group (five females and four males). Mouse weights were monitored daily to DPI 13. b, Percentage of weight change. Data are presented as mean ± s.e.m. The dotted line represents the initial body weight. Mice that had lost >20% of their initial body weight were humanely euthanized. P values were calculated by two-tailed Student’s t-tests, *P < 0.05. c, Kaplan–Meyer survival curves. P values were determined by log-rank (Mantel–Cox) test. ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001.
