Fig. 6. Reducing the density of the extracellular environment affects the rate of HCV infection initiation.

Huh7 cells were plated in wells of a 96-well plate, infected with ~ 100 FFU of (A–B) HCVcc^wt or (C–D) HCVcc^G451R in cDMEM containing 1% (black diamonds), 10% (open squares) or 20% (grey circles) FBS. At indicated time points p.i., inoculum was removed from triplicate wells, cells were washed twice with 1X PBS and overlaid with 10% cDMEM containing 0.25% methylcellulose. Forty-eight hours p.i., HCV foci were visualized by HRP-based immunocytochemistry using an anti-NS5A antibody, quantified and expressed as a mean number (no.) of foci detected/well ± stdev for triplicate samples. Time course of infection initiation is shown over (A, C) 24 hours and (B, D) 12 hours.