Fig. 3: DC specific loss of IFNαR increases vaccine-specific CD8⁺ T cell responses.

A (Left) Representative flow plot of splenic CD11c⁺MHCII⁺ DCs expressing eGFP from IFNαR^WT or IFNαR^cKO mice. (Right) Percentage of eGFP expression in splenic DCs 24 h post mRNA-LNP immunization (5 μg eGFP mRNA-LNP or 2.5 μg OVA mRNA-LNP IV) in IFNαR^WT mice (black, n = 4), or IFNαR^cKO mice (red, n = 8). B (Left) Representative flow plot showing CD40⁺CD86⁺ splenic DCs after immunization with mRNA-LNP. (Right) Percentage of CD40⁺CD86⁺ splenic DCs from mice in Fig. 3A. C (Left) Representative flow plots of SIINFEKL-H2-K^b (OVA) specific CD8⁺ T cells. (Right) Percentage of OVA specific CD8⁺ T cells from IFNαR^WT mice (black, n = 17) and IFNαR^cKO mice (red, n = 9). 2.5 μg of mRNA-LNP was administered IV. D (Left) Representative flow plot showing PD-1 expression of OVA specific TCRβ⁺CD8α⁺ T cells. (Right) PD-1 expression of TCRβ⁺CD8α⁺ T cells from mice in Fig. 3C. E (Left) Representative flow plot of splenic CD11c⁺MHCII⁺ DCs expressing fluorescent LNP from IFNαR^WT or IFNαR^cKO mice. (Right) Percentage of fluorescent LNP expression in splenic DCs 24 h post mRNA-LNP immunization (5 μg DiD incorporated LNP eGFP mRNA-LNP or 2.5 μg OVA mRNA-LNP IV) in IFNαR^WT mice (black, n = 4), or IFNαR^cKO mice (red, n = 7). All bars in (A)–(E) indicate mean. Data from (A), (B), (D), and (E) were compared using an unpaired two-tailed students T test. Data from (C) was compared by a Mann–Whitney test.