Figure 1.

The effect of TLR9 overexpression on cell proliferation. (a) HK-(left panel) or HPV16E6E7-expressing keratinocytes (right panel) were stably transduced with empty or TLR9-expressing pbabe. TLR9 protein levels were determined by western blotting. (b) Cells were stimulated with increasing concentrations of CpG 2006 and IL-8 levels were determined by ELISA. (c) HK expressing or not HPV16E6E7 were stably transduced with pbabe or pbabe-TLR9 and plated for a doubling population assay. The cells were harvested and reseeded every 5 days and the doubling populations were counted. (d) At day 15 cells were visualized by microscopy at four different planes. (e) SiHa cells were stably transduced with pbabe or pbabe-TLR9 and plated for a doubling population assay. The cells were harvested and reseeded every 5 days and the doubling populations were counted. Data are representative of three independent experiments performed in triplicate. The mean±s.e.m. are shown. ***P<0.0001, based on an unpaired Student's t-test.