Fig 5. Recombinant D7 protein inhibits DENV2 infection in AGB6 mice.

Mice deficient in receptors for type I and type II interferons, (IFNAGR-/-, AGB6) were inoculated subcutaneously into both rear footpads with 20 μl containing either 10⁷ genome equivalents of either DENV2 alone or DENV2 plus recombinant D7 protein. Forty-eight hours post-infection, mice were euthanized and left and right foot pads and left and right popliteal draining lymph nodes (DLN) were collected independently. (A) Total RNA was harvested from footpad tissue and qRT-PCR was performed to assess relative levels of DENV2 vRNA. Relative DENV2 vRNA was normalized to actin gene expression. (B) Total RNA was harvested from DLNs and qRT-PCR was performed to assess relative levels of DENV2 vRNA. Relative DENV2 vRNA was normalized to actin gene expression. 5 mice were present in each group and the data represents a single experiment. Unpaired t tests were performed to assess statistical significance.