Figure 2. Expression of RV capsid protein blocks activation of caspase 3.

A. A549 cells were transiently transfected with plasmids encoding eGFP, RV glycoproteins E2 and E1, capsid protein or the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-XL. At forty hours post-transfection, cells were treated with anti-Fas for 6 hours after which time they were processed for immunofluorescence using rabbit anti-caspase 3 and mouse antibodies to E1, capsid or Bcl-XL. Primary antibodies were detected with donkey anti-rabbit Alexa488 and chicken anti-mouse Alexa594. For samples expressing eGFP, the rabbit anti-caspase 3 was detected with donkey anti-rabbit conjugated to Texas Red. Nuclei were counter stained with DAPI. Scale bar  = 10 µm. B. The percentages of transfected cells expressing active caspase 3 (double positive) were determined and plotted. Error bars indicate standard deviations calculated from three independent experiments in which at least 100 cells for each experiment were scored. One-way ANOVA was used to determine statistical significance. p = ≤0.001.