FIG. 2.

Effect of SM hydrolysis on viral infectivity. (A) Effect on the infectivity of HCVcc. HCVcc was treated with 0.1, 1, or 10 U/ml SMase for 1 h at 37°C, after which SMase was removed by ultracentifugation. Huh-7 cells were infected with the treated virus, and the core protein content of infected cells was determined at 72 h p.i. (B) Effect on the infectivity of HCVpv (genotype 1a) (shaded bars) or the control, VSVdelG-GFP/G (VSV cont) (solid bars). The viruses were preincubated with SMase for 1 h at 37°C before infection. Data are means from four independent experiments. Error bars, standard deviations.