FIG 6.

miR-21 impairs viral entry. (A) U-251MG cells were transduced with lentiviruses that overexpress miR-21 or miR-UL22A (Ctrl) and infected with HCMV at MOIs of 0.5 or 5. Cells were stained for IE1 and counterstained with Hoechst (to show nuclei) at the times postinfection indicated. Scale bar, 30 μm. (B) Total cells and IE1-positive cells were counted in over six random fields from each experiment. (C) Transduced U-251MG cells were infected with HCMV at an MOI of 5 or 10, washed with PBS, harvested at 1 hpi, and assayed by Western blotting for cell-associated pp65. Protein levels relative to Ctrl were determined by densitometry and are indicated below each blot. Actin serves as a loading control. Cell count results are means ± 1 SD of data from three independent experiments, each conducted in triplicate. *, P < 0.05.