FIG 6.

The sciatic nerve is the exclusive entry route of VSV into the spinal cord after footpad infection. (A) VSV-N RNA levels in wt and Ifit2^−/− spinal cords at different times after footpad infection, measured by real-time RT-PCR. (B) VSV-N RNA levels in Ifit2^−/− spinal cords of mice, after surgical removal of the midthigh sciatic nerve segment (i.e., resection), followed by VSV infection of the same or the opposite leg's footpad. RNA was measured at 8 days after infection by real-time RT-PCR. All VSV RNA levels were plotted on a log scale. Asterisks indicate statistical significance (*, P = 0.02; ***, P = 0.0002). Dashed lines indicate the threshold of detection.