Fig. 1

DNase I reduces clinical outcomes in a COVID-19 experimental model. a K18-hACE2 mice (n = 6) were intranasally (i.n) inoculated with SARS-CoV-2 (2 × 10⁴ PFU) and treated with DNase I (10 mg/kg, s.c) for 5 days. Created with Biorender.com. The uninfected group was used as negative control (n = 5). Weight loss and clinical scores were analyzed (b, c). Representative dot plots (d), frequency, and total number (e) of Ly6G + CD11b + cells were assessed by flow cytometry. f NETs quantification by MPO-DNA PicoGreen assay from serum and lung tissue homogenate. g Immunofluorescence analysis of H3Cit (green) and MPO (red) expression from the lung of SARS-CoV-2-infected mice and treated with DNase I. DAPI (blue) was used for nuclei staining. The scale bar indicates 50 µm. h Pearson’s correlation between body weight or clinical score and NETs concentration in lung homogenate. Data are representative of at least two independent experiments and are shown as mean ± SEM. P values were determined by two-way (b, c) and one-way ANOVA (e, f)