Fig. 1.

Experimental design of the parallel genome-wide RNAi screen. A549 cells are reverse transfected with siRNAs in two 384-well plates in parallel. After 48 h incubation, cells in one plate are challenged by Marburg pseudovirions and the cells in the other plate are challenged by influenza H5N1 pseudovirions. The virions are removed 24 h later and the cells are incubated with fresh medium for an additional 24 h. Virus infection is then quantified by a luciferase activity assay. siRNA only showing low signal (black) in an assay plate of one virus is regarded as a virus specific hit; siRNA showing low signals in assay plates of both viruses is regarded as a “shared” hit by the two viruses