Fig. 4: The synthetic MNs (scaffold implants) develop potent in situ antitumor immunity through biomaterial-induced inflammation in 4T1 metastatic breast cancer.

a–c Phenotypic characterization of immune cells in diseased scaffolds and lungs of BALB/c mice bearing 4T1 tumor on activation and polarization markers by flow cytometric (a), single-cell RNA sequencing (b), and qRT-PCR analyses (c). In single-cell RNA sequencing analysis, Cd86 (cyan) and Cd206 (red) are the markers for N1 and N2, respectively. Ngp and Mmp8 (dark green) are makers for immature neutrophils, while Cd24a and Il1b (blue) are makers for mature neutrophils^37,38. N neutrophil, M macrophage, PRF1 perforin, GzmB granzyme B. d–f Expression of the cellular senescence marker p16 proteins (d, Bar = 200 µm), production of cytokines and chemokines (e), and expression of genes associated with the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) (f) in diseased scaffolds and lungs of BALB/c mice bearing 4T1 tumor. Data are shown as Mean ± SEM and p values are from student’s two-tailed t test. n = 3 for (a), (e). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.