Figure 4.
Coinfection with AAV and Ad induces caspase activation. Approximately 1 × 106 cells were infected with AAV and/or pm534 or Ad5. Cells were harvested 4 days pi, and equal amounts of cell lysates were incubated 1 hour with the fluorogenic caspase substrate Ac-DEVD-AMC. Fluorescence was reported in arbitrary relative fluorescence units (RFU) as an indicator of caspase activation. Uninfected and doxorubicin-treated cells were included as negative and positive controls. Each bar indicates the average of 6 samples with the indicated standard deviation. The data shown are representative of three independent experiments. There was no statistical difference in average caspase activity of uninfected cells compared with AAV-infected cells (p = 0.437). AAV in the presence of either Ad5 or pm534 significantly increased caspase activation relative to that of the corresponding adenovirus alone, (p ≤ 0.001).