Fig 6.

Suppression of early gene expression with MEF2 binding site mutation of the BZLF1 promoter could be reversed with exogenous BRLF1. (A) HEK293 cells latently infected with the wt or the mMEF2 mutant of recombinant EBV-BAC DNA were transfected with the BZLF1 expression vector (pcDNABZLF1), the BRLF1 expression vector (pcDNABRLF1), and/or its empty vector. After 24 h, cell proteins were harvested and immunoblotting was performed using anti-BZLF1, -BRLF1, -BALF2, -BALF5, -BMRF1, and -tubulin antibodies. (B) HEK293 cells latently infected with the wt or the mMEF2 mutant of recombinant EBV-BAC DNA were transfected with BZLF1 expression vector (pcDNABZLF1) (white bars) or BZLF1 expression vector plus BRLF1 expression vector (pcDNABRLF1) (gray bars). The total amount of transfected DNA was adjusted with the empty vector, and 72 h after transfection, the culture supernatants were collected and cocultured with Akata(−) cells for 48 h, and then GFP-positive cells were counted by fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS).