FIG. 6.

HCV RNA abundance declines in Huh7 2-3 cells as cells reach confluence. (A) Real-time RT-PCR quantitation of HCV RNA normalized to cellular GAPDH mRNA abundance. Cells were approximately 80% confluent on day 1 and 100% confluent on day 2. The cells were split on day 6 (arrow). The HCV RNA levels declined rapidly as cells grew more and more confluent and rebounded once logarithmic growth was resumed. (B) Northern blot detection of HCV RNA in a similar experiment with an NS5B-specific probe. Cells were near 100% confluence on day 1. HCV RNA levels decreased with increasing cell confluence, in agreement with the RT-PCR data.