Figure 4.

Electroporation-mediated gene delivery of Ear1 protects room air–exposed mice against influenza A virus infection. Lungs of adult mice exposed to room air as neonates were electroporated with empty vector (control) or plasmid-expressing Ear1 (Ear1). Mice were infected intranasally with influenza A virus 48 hours later. A: Overexpression of Ear1 significantly reduced viral titers on postinfection day 5 (*P < 0.005). Each dot represents the virus titer in an individual mouse. B: Overexpression of Ear1 significantly reduced the number of inflammatory cells recruited into the lung on postinfection day 5 (n = 6 control plasmids and 7 Ear1 plasmids; **P < 0.02). C: Expression of Ear 1 did not significantly diminish weight loss during infection (n = 13 mice per group, P = 0.21). Mean values from a single experiment reproduced two to three times with similar results. D: H& E staining of lungs on postinfection day 5 showing overexpression of Ear1 reduced leukocyte recruitment, alveolar edema, and airway injury. Scale bar = 50 μm.