B-Cell Epitopes in GroEL of Francisella tularensis
Figure 6
Ab64 and N200 reduce SchuS4 burden in a mouse model of respiratory tularemia.
(A) BALB/cJ female mice (n = 15) were inoculated i.n. with 91–164 CFU of SchuS4, injected i.p. with 50 µg of the indicated mAbs 2 hours post inoculation, and bled then euthanized 3 days post inoculation for blood CFU determination. Data were pooled from 3 experiments with 5 mice per group for each mAb and compared for statistical significance with PBS only for groups that were tested at the same time (same panel). (B) BALB/cJ female mice (n = 4) were inoculated i.n. with 93 (n = 2) or 114 (n = 2) CFU of SchuS4, injected i.p. with 50 µg of the indicated mAbs 2 hours post inoculation, and bled then euthanized 3 days post inoculation for blood, lung and spleen CFU determination. Percent CFU reduction compared with PBS was calculated from the median CFU numbers and the P value (indicated below the percent CFU reduction by *p≤0.05, **p≤0.01, or ***p≤0.001) was determined using the two-tailed Mann-Whitney test. All mAbs are IgG2a except for Ab12 and TIB-114, which are IgG3 (indicated as G3). The Ab52 mAb (anti-Ft O-antigen) was used as standard. The TIB-114 (anti-sheep red blood cells) and CO17-1A (anti-human tumor-associated antigen EpCam) mAbs were used as isotype controls. All other mAbs are anti-Ft GroEL.