Fig. 4.

Analyses of downstream molecular events following transduction of S. mansoni by virions carrying a dsRNA hairpin loop specific for cathepsin B1 (shCB1^RNAi). a Relative transcript levels of cathepsin B1. The results are normalised by the expression levels of the housekeeping gene α-tubulin and represented as a fold difference compared to the wild-type control sample (±SE). Results are averaged from three independent experiments. Significance at p < 0.05 is indicated by an asterisk. b To control for off-target silencing effect, the transcription level of two additional genes SmCD and SmCox1 was also measured at 72 h post transduction with either pLNHX-SmAct-Luc (red bars) or pLNHX-SmAct-CB1^RNAi (orange bars) virions and compared to non-transduced worms (grey bars). While transcription of SmCB1 was dramatically reduced after exposure to pLNHX-SmAct-CB1^RNAi virions, expression of both SmCD and SmCox1 genes was not affected as a result of exposure to any of the viruses