Screening of PCSK9 peptide vaccines in male <i>ApoE-deficient mice</i>.

<p>Two candidate vaccines (V1 and V2 vaccines) or control (KLH) was injected (5 μg peptide per mouse) (N = 4 per group). (A) The antibody titers against candidate PCSK9 peptides conjugated with bovine serum albumin were evaluated pre-immunization (pre) and post-immunization (4 or 8 weeks), and the results are expressed as half-maximal binding (optical density: OD50%). Significance values were obtained with a 2-factor repeated-measure ANOVA with subsequent Tukey’s multiple comparisons tests. (B) Mouse plasma PCSK9 levels were measured at pre-immunization (pre) and post-immunization (4 weeks) time points. Significance values were obtained using two-way ANOVA with subsequent Tukey’s multiple comparisons test. (C and D) Mean values of TC and TG levels (mg/dL) were measured post-immunization (4 weeks). Significance values relative to KLH (*P<0.05) were obtained with one-way ANOVA with subsequent Tukey’s multiple comparisons tests. All data in this Figure are expressed as the means ± SEM. *P<0.05, **P<0.01, and ****P<0.0001.