Fig. 6.

Differential reduction of cytokines mRNA levels by TLRs ligands. Hep-2 cells were pre-incubated with CpG-ODN (5 µM), poly I:C (25 µg/ml) or in combinations of two for 24 hr and exposed to sH1N1 virus at a moi 1.0 or moi 0.01 for additional 48 hr or 72 hr, respectively. Cells which were simultaneously pre-incubated with PBS and exposed to sH1N1 virus at a moi 1.0 or moi 0.01 for additional 48 hr or 72 hr, respectively, was used as a control. IL-6 (a), IFN-β (b) and TNF-α (c) mRNA expression levels were determined using qRT-PCR. Transcript levels normalized to GAPDH and expressed relative to unstimulated cells. Data are the averages±S.D. of triplicate determinations (^*p<0.05 compared with control).