Fig. 7.

EMCV1.26Δ2A is infectious for mice but does not reach the central nervous system (CNS). EMCV and 18S real-time RT-PCR were performed on RNA extracted from mouse heart (a) and the CNS (b), including CNS tissues from the lumbar spinal cord (▨), thoracic spinal cord (▤), and brain (▩). Mice were inoculated with EMCV1.26 (black in panels a and b) or EMCV1.26Δ2A (gray in panel a; white in panel b). Five mice per indicated day and per virus were used for organ recovery. There were no more mice infected with EMCV1.26 at 9 and 22 dpi, as all were dead (†), and only one remained at day 8. (c) EMCV1.26Δ2A RNA is present in mouse heart but not in brain after inoculation of a high dose of virus. Twenty-one mice were inoculated with a high dose of EMCV1.26Δ2A (8 × 10⁶ TCID₅₀/mice), and 4 mice were inoculated with MEM as a negative control. Three mice per indicated day were used for organ recovery. EMCV and β-actin real-time RT-PCRs were performed on RNA extracted from mouse heart and brain. The graph represents the number of EMCV1.26Δ2A RNA copies in mouse heart at the indicated day postinoculation. No viral RNA was detected in any mouse brain.