Fig. 3

Enhancement of antigen uptake by dendritic cells and elevation of the dendritic cell frequency in the draining lymph nodes mediated by the injection of LZE3. a Gating strategy for the dendritic cell population in the draining lymph nodes. Alexa Fluor 647-labeled rZE3 or rLZE3 was injected into the hind foot pads (100 μg/foot pad) of C57BL/6 mice. Mice injected with PBS were used as controls. Cells were harvested 24 h after injection. Single cells were gated by FSC-W/SSC-A. Dead cells, B cells, T cells, NK cells, and neutrophils were excluded from the analysis by staining with a Live/Dead® fixable dead cell stain dye and anti-CD19, anti-CD3e, anti-NK1.1, and anti-Ly6G (1A8) antibodies. The frequencies of CD11c⁺MHC II⁺ cells (b) and antigen-labeled CD11c⁺MHC II⁺ cells (c) were further analyzed. The results shown are from one of two representative experiments. Statistical significance was determined using the Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn’s multiple comparison test. *p < 0.05