Fig. 4.

Vitamin E restores HCV replication in Huh7-K2040 cells treated with arachidonate. On day 0, Huh7-K2040 cells were set up at 4 × 10⁵ cells per 60-mm dish. (A) On day 2, except for control cells that were continued to be maintained in medium containing 10% FCS, cells were switched to medium supplemented with 10% delipidated FCS in the absence (blue) or presence (red) of 0.1 mM BSA-conjugated arachidonate and treated with indicated amount of vitamin E. Seventy-two hours later, on day 5, cells were harvested, and the amount of HCV RNA was determined by quantitative real-time PCR analysis. Values are plotted relative to the control cells cultured in medium supplemented with FCS without any treatment, which is set at 1. Results from three independent experiments are presented, each denoted by an individual dot. (B) On day 2, cells were switched to medium supplemented with 10% of FCS or 10% delipidated FCS with addition of 0.1 mM BSA-conjugated arachidonate. These cells were then treated with or without 0.3 μM vitamin E. Seventy-two hours later, on day 5, cells were harvested, and the amount of HCV RNA was determined and presented as described in A. Results (mean ± SD) from three independent experiments are shown.