FIG 4.

Inhibition of virus release by aptamer AO-01. Huh7 cells were transiently transfected with plasmids initiating HBV formation, and the concentration of viral genomes in the culture supernatant was measured at 3 days posttransfection. Leaving out the plasmid for HBV envelope protein expression prevented virion formation (14) and resulted in a background signal (bar B). Cotransfection of the plasmids with the aptamer AO-01 reduced the amount of virus in the culture supernatant by approximately 50% (bar AO-01) whereas cotransfection of an aptamer with a random sequence had no effect (bar A-N).