Fig. 5: Usp5 conditional knockout (cKO) mice have effective tumor control.

a Conditional knockout strategy of Usp5^fl/flCd4-Cre (cKO) mice. b Protein levels of Usp5 in WT or cKO CD8⁺ T cells of spleens. c–e The production of IFN-γ, TNF, or GzmB in WT and cKO CD8⁺ T cells with anti-CD3/CD28 (0 or 2 μg/mL) stimulation for 96 h and Brefeldin A (BFA, 5 μg/mL) treatment for 5 h. n = 3 biologically independent samples. f–i The growth of subcutaneous MC38 tumors and survival of WT or cKO mice. Tumor growth was measured every 2 days and plotted (f). Endpoint tumor weight (g) and images (h) of MC38 tumors. Kaplan–Meier survival curves for WT and cKO mice bearing MC38 tumors (i). Data were presented as mean ± S.D. n = 5 mice per group (f, g). Two-way ANOVA for (f). For i, WT = 15 mice, cKO = 10 mice, log-rank test. j–l Quantification of CD44⁺/CD8⁺ T cells (j) or cellular surface PD-1 on CD8⁺ T cells (k, l) in subcutaneous MC38 tumors derived from WT or cKO mice. n = 5 mice per group. m–p Quantification of CD8⁺/CD3⁺ T cells (m), CD8⁺/Foxp3⁺CD4⁺ T cells (n), CD4⁺/CD3⁺ T cells (o), or Foxp3⁺/CD4⁺ T cells (p) in subcutaneous MC38 tumors derived from WT or cKO mice. n = 5 mice per group. q–s The growth of subcutaneous LLC tumors in WT or cKO mice. Tumor growth was measured every 2 days and plotted (q). Endpoint tumor weight (r) and images (s) of LLC tumors. n = 6 mice per group. Data were presented as mean ± S.D. Two-way ANOVA for (q). t–v Flow cytometry analysis of cellular surface PD-1 on CD8⁺ T cells in subcutaneous LLC tumors from WT or cKO mice (t–v). Quantification of CD4⁺/CD3⁺ T cells (w), Foxp3⁺/CD4⁺ T cells (x), or CD8⁺/CD3⁺ T cells (y) in subcutaneous LLC tumors derived from WT or cKO mice. n = 4 mice per group. For c–e, g, j, l–p, r, u–y, data were presented as mean ± S.D. Two-tailed unpaired t-test. For b, data are representative of two independent experiments. Source data are provided as a Source data file.