Fig. 5: T-cell-mediated anti-tumor immune responses induced by small size of YCW NPs.

A Schematic diagram of therapeutic strategy with T cell depletion, including CD4 depletion and CD8a depletion. B Representative flow cytometric analysis for CD8+ and CD4+ in CD3+ T cells in peripheral blood to confirm the depletion of CD4 and CD8a in vivo. C–D Individual (C) and average (D) tumor growth curves in four groups, including UnTx group, CD4 depletion group, CD8a depletion group and treated group. E Fluorescence imaging of B16-luc established mice on day 8, 10, 15 in four different groups. F Survival curves for the depletion groups and treated group. G Weight curves of different groups. Statistical significance was obtained by one-way ANOVA using the Tukey post-test (n = 4). ****P < 0.0001; ***P < 0.005; *P < 0.05. Data are means ± SD. MFI: mean fluorescence intensity, arb. units: arbitrary units.