Live attenuated vaccination protects aged chimeric ACE2 mice from severe SARS-CoV-2 pathogenicity in vivo
Fig 3
Chimeric ACE2 supports SARS-CoV-2 wt and LAVNsp16 replication in vivo.
Eight weeks old chACE2 mice were infected intranasally with 7x104 PFU of wt or LAVNsp16 virus in 30 µl PBS. Clinical scores and bodyweight of infected mice were monitored daily. Animals were sacrificed on days two, four, and seven postinfection (n = 4). Bodyweight (A) and survival status (B) of animals sacrificed on day seven postinfection are depicted. Weight measurements of individual animals were normalized to the initial weight and are shown as mean + /- s.d. At each endpoint, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) (C), lung (D), and brain (E) samples were collected and viral RNA copy numbers were determined by RT-qPCR. Bars represent the mean + /- s.d. overlaid with individual data points. Statistical analysis of bodyweight and viral genome titers was performed by conducting separate two-tailed t-tests for each timepoint.