Figure 2. Quantification of IFN-λ, IFN-α5, and IFN-β transcripts in virus-infected brains and livers.

Histograms show the number of IFN cDNA copies per 10⁶ β-actin cDNA copies, determined by real-time PCR, after reverse transcription of RNA extracted from the brain and liver of mice infected with different RNA viruses, in different experimental settings (see Table 2). A, B, F, G, H: mean and standard deviation of groups of mice. C–E: data from individual mice. Background amplification in mock-infected mice (not shown) was less than 1 copy of IFN-β or IFN-λ, and less than 10 copies of IFN-α5 cDNA, per 10⁶ copies of β-actin cDNA.