FIG 4.

Confocal micrographs of Vero cells in the axonal compartment of neuronal cultures in microfluidic devices infected with US9 deletion (US9⁻ and F-US9/GFP) and US9 repair (US9R and F-US9/GFP-R) viruses. Vero cells were added to the axonal compartment 24 h prior to virus addition to the somal compartment. Foscarnet (100 μg/ml) was added to the axonal compartment 8 hpi and remained in the medium until fixation at 22 hpi. The cultures were then immunostained for ICP27 and examined using a Leica SP5 confocal microscope. A marked and significant reduction (∼90%) in virus spread from axons to Vero cells was observed with the US9 deletion viruses compared to repair viruses. Bars, 25 μm.