Pre-depletion of CD4⁺ or CD8⁺ T affects the therapeutic effect of B16-mBD2 vaccine in mice.

<p>(A) Flow cytometry analysis. Groups of C57BL/6 mice were injected with rat IgG, anti-CD4 or anti-CD8 antibody, respectively and three day after the initial antibody treatment, the frequency of splenic CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells in some mice was characterized by flow cytometry analysis using FITC-anti-CD4, FITC-anti-CD8 and PE-anti-CD3. Data shown are representative images of each group (n = 3) of mice. (B, C) The effect of CD4⁺ or CD8⁺ depletion on the antitumor activity of irradiated B16-mBD2 vaccine. The remaining mice were continually injected with the corresponding antibody, inoculated with parental B16 cells in left armpit on day 0 and vaccinated with irradiated B16-mBD2 vaccine in right armpit on day 0, 3, 7, and 11. The growth of tumors was monitored (n = 3 per group), and their survival was monitored up to 120 days post inoculation (n = 6 per group). Data are expressed as mean % of survival rates of different groups of mice (n = 6 per group).