Murine model of acute allergic airway inflammation

BALB/c mice (8–10 weeks) maintained under standard pathogen-free conditions were used. All studies involving mice were performed according to standards and procedures approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at the University of Minnesota. Mice were sensitized and challenged with ovalbumin (OVA; Grade V; Sigma-Aldrich, St Louis, Mo), as previously described.²³ Some OVA-exposed mice received RD-Ad5 (1e10 virus particles per dose), capsid (100 μg per dose), or knob protein (1 μg per dose) at the same time as sensitization, as outlined in Fig 1, A. Mice administered aluminum hydroxide alone for sensitization followed by saline instead of OVA for challenge with or without RD-Ad5, capsid, or knob served as control groups.

Inhibition of allergen-induced eosinophilia by RD-Ad5 and adenoviral capsid. A, Outline of mouse allergen (OVA) challenge model with details of RD-Ad5, capsid, and knob administration. s.c., Subcutaneous; i.n., intranasal; i.p., intraperitoneal. B, Representative data of cellular infiltration of lung tissue from saline- and OVA-challenged mice with and without RD-Ad5. Scale bar = 50 μm. C, Eosinophils in BALF of mice described in Fig 1, B. D, Representative Coomassie-stained SDS-PAGE of capsid. E, Representative ethidium bromide–stained agarose gel of the capsid. F, BALF cell counts in saline- and OVA-challenged mice with and without capsid protein (n = 4 mice per group). Sal, Saline. *P < .001 in Fig 1, C, and P < .05 in Fig 1, F, compared with the OVA group.