Fig. 3

Role of TLR9 in the accumulation, trafficking, antigen presentation and maturation of tumor DCs after chemotherapy. a TC-1 tumor-bearing wildtype or TLR9^−/− mice were treated intraperitoneally with cisplatin or PBS. Tumor-infiltrating cells were stained for CD11c and examined by flow cytometry to detect the number of tumor DCs. Left: Representative flow cytometry depicting the frequency of tumor DCs. Right: Bar graph quantification (n = 5). b-c TC-1 tumor-bearing wildtype of TLR9^−/− mice were treated with cisplatin intraperitoneally, together with injection of FITC-labeled (b) or unlabeled (c) E7 peptide into the tumor. b Cells from draining lymph nodes were stained for CD11c and examined by flow cytometry. Left: Representative flow cytometry depicting the frequency of E7-loaded tumor CD11c⁺ DCs. Right: Bar graph quantification (n = 5). c DCs were purified from lymph nodes and co-incubated with E7-specific CTLs. Cells were stained for IFN-γ and examined by flow cytometry (n = 5). Left: Representative flow cytometry depicting activation of E7-specific CTLs. Right: Bar graph quantification. d TC-1 tumor-bearing mice were treated intraperitoneally with cisplatin. Tumor-infiltrating cells were harvested and co-stained for CD11c and for CD40, CD80, or CD86, and examined by flow cytometry. Bar graph indicates expression status (as mean fluorescence intensity (MFI)) of CD40, CD80, or CD86 on CD11c⁺ tumor DCs (n = 5). Significance determined by student’s t test. Data are represented as mean ± SD. *P < 0.01, ND = no difference