Figure 1

Chitosan interferon-γ nanogene (CIN) modulates T-cell responses in ovalbumin (OVA)-allergic mice. A, Localization of T helper cells in the lungs of C57BL/6 mice using antibody to interleukin-12Rβ (Th1) and T1/ST2L (Th2). B, Changes in interferon-γ (IFN-γ) production by OVA-specific CD8⁺ T cells from the lung. T-cell receptor OVA-specific OT1 mice were treated with CIN and then sensitized with OVA and challenged 10 days later. T lymphocytes were isolated from lungs, cultured with OVA, and stained with tetramer to label OVA-specific CD8⁺ T cells. IFN-γ was identified by intracellular cytokine staining and counted by flow cytometry after gating for tetramer-labelled cells. C, Apoptosis of OVA-specific CD8⁺ T cells from lungs determined by TUNEL assay and measured by flow cytometry. The data are based on cytometry of a minimum of 15,000 cells and were substantiated by a repeat experiment.