Figure 2. Effect of iota-carrageenan on influenza A-infected primary human nasal epithelial cells.

Primary human nasal epithelial cells (HNep) cells grown in 96-well plates were infected with A/PR/8/34 virus (5 PFU/cell) in the presence of iota-carrageenan at concentrations indicated on the x-axis in µg/ml. 30 minutes after infection, the inoculum was removed and medium containing iota-carrageenan (black bars) or CMC (white bars) in indicated concentrations added. Cell proliferation was determined with a Resazurin-based in vitro toxicology assay. Samples were measured fluorometrically by monitoring the increase in fluorescence at a wavelength of 590 nm using an excitation wavelength of 544 nm. Values obtained from mock-infected cells were set to 100%, and the values of cells infected in the absence of polymer were set to 0% (y-axis). The bars represent the mean of a quadruplicate experiment, the standard deviation is indicated.