AC hmwPSs polarized the Th1 responses induced by HER-2/neu DNA vaccination.

<p>The tumor-bearing mice were treated with AC PSs, HER-2/neu DNA vaccine, or the combination as indicated for 6 days. Then, total inguinal LN cells were isolated from various vaccinated mice and incubated with recombinant HER-2/neu protein (10 μg/mL) for 16 h. (A) The production of IFN-γ by stimulated CD8⁺ T cells was detected by intracellular staining and flow cytometry. The percentage of CD8⁺IFN-γ⁺ cells in total CD8⁺ T cells is shown in each graph. (B) CD4⁺ T cells were purified from the total LN cells. The production of IFN-γ and IL-4 by stimulated CD4⁺ T cells were determined by quantitative real-time PCR. The data are normalized to HPRT expression in each sample and shown as the mean + SD of five mice. *<i>p</i><0.05 (<i>Mann</i>–<i>Whitney U test</i>) are comparisons of treatment between HER-2/neu DNA vaccine and control. ^NS<i>p</i>>0.05; ^##<i>p</i><0.05 are <i>comparisons of treatment between</i> HER-2/neu DNA <i>vaccine + AC hmwPSs and</i> HER-2/neu DNA <i>vaccine alone</i>. All of the data are representative of three independent experiments.