Figure 5.

Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) induces a low-level reactivation of γherpesvirus-68 (γHV-68). Wild-type C57Bl/6 mice were given an intranasal injection with 5 × 10⁴ plaque-forming units of γHV-68 on Day 0. On Day 30, mice were administered intratracheal FITC. The lungs of some mice were harvested on Day 30 before FITC administration, and the expression of γHV-68 genes was measured. The lungs of the remainder of the mice were harvested on Day 37 for analysis of viral gene expression. Real-time reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction demonstrates that levels of gene expression of (A) DNApol and (B) gB are increased 7 days after FITC administration compared with mice that were not administered FITC. Viral gene expression is presented relative to the expression level of a housekeeping gene, β-actin, which was set at 1 for each mouse (n = 4 mice per group). nd = not detectable.