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. 2014 May 6;9(5):e96533. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0096533

Figure 3. Statin-induced HO-1 expression contributes to inhibition of HCV replication and endogenous interferon response.

Figure 3

HO-1-induction was measured by RT-qPCR in Huh-5-15 replicon cells after 6 hours of statin incubation (A). Western Blot analysis was used to visualize the HO-1 protein level was after 8 hours of incubation using 10 or 25 microM of FLV (B). LucUbiNeo-ET replicon cells stably expressing shRNA against HO-1 (shHO1) or a control gene (shGFP) were used to detect baseline or FLV-induced expression of HO-1 by RT-qPCR after 6 hours of incubation (C). ShGFP or shHO1 cells were incubated with statin for 72 hours. HCV replication was measured by luciferase reporter assay (D). LucUbiNeo-ET replicon cells were incubated in the presence of 10 microM of statins for 24 hours. Gene expression levels (interferon alpha 2; interferon alpha 17; interferon response genes) were analyzed by RT-qPCR (E). LucUbiNeo-ET cells were incubated with FLV, IFN alpha (Intron A) and telaprevir (TVR) alone or in combination for 24 hours. Single and combined effects on HCV replication were detected by luciferase assay (F).