Fig. 5

Immune responses and immunogenic cell death induced by the chemoimmunotherapy hydrogel. Representative flow cytometry images (A) and proportions (B) of mature DCs (mDCs, CD11c⁺CD80⁺CD86⁺) in tumor-draining lymph nodes (TDLNs) 1 week after the last treatment (n = 5). The error bars represented mean ± SEM. p-values were calculated by two-tailed unpaired Student’s t-tests. ns P > 0.05, **P = 0.0011 and ***P = 0.0003, ****P < 0.0001. Representative flow cytometry images (C) and proportions (D) of effector memory T cells (T_EM, CD3⁺CD8⁺CD44⁺CD62L^–) and central memory T cells (T_CM, CD3⁺CD8⁺CD44⁺CD62L⁺) in tumors 1 week after the last treatment (n = 5). The error bars represented mean ± SEM. p-values were calculated by two-tailed unpaired Student’s t-tests. *P = 0.0102 (T_EM) 0.0333 (T_CM), **P = 0.0032 (NS vs R837/ALG) 0.0049 (NS vs Nab-PTX/ALG) 0.0033 (Nab-PTX/ALG vs R837/Nab-PTX/ALG) and ***P = 0.0002. Representative flow cytometry images (E) and proportions (F) of cytotoxic lymphocytes (CTLs, CD3⁺CD8⁺) and helper T cells (Th, CD3⁺CD4.⁺) in spleens 1week after the last treatment (n = 5). The error bars represented mean ± SEM. p-values were calculated by two-tailed unpaired Student’s t-tests. *P = 0.0276 (CD4) 0.0145 (CD8), **P = 0.0063 (CD4), ***P = 0.0004 (NS vs R837/ALG) 0.005 (ALG vs R837/Nab-PTX/ALG) 0.0002 (NS vs R837/Nab-PTX/ALG). (G) Calreticulin (CRT) staining of tumors (brown) 1 week after the last treatment (the scale bar is 62.5 µm and 20 µm, respectively)