Figure 5. Reductions in HeV titre via pre-treatment with RNAi and Poly IC.

HeLa cells were transfected with 40 µg/ml Poly IC, 40 nM control (black bars), HeV targeting siRNA, or combined Poly IC/siN15. Transfection media was replaced after 4 hours and cells were infected with HeV clinical isolate at an MOI of 0.1. A) Infected cells were incubated for 24 hours before RNA extraction. Gene expression levels of N were quantified by qRT-PCR as relative expression to B-actin housekeeping gene. Results are the mean ± SEM of six biological replicates from two independent experiments. Significant differences between Oligofectamine control and siRNAs are indicated (*p = <0.05; two-sided t-test). B) Infected cells were incubated for 24 hours before supernatant removed and processed for TCID₅₀ assay. Cells infected with supernatant were incubated for 3 days before TCID₅₀ calculation and are shown as the mean ± S.E.M. of six biological replicates from two independent experiments.