FIG 3 .

HRS is essential for HCV assembly. (A) qRT-PCR quantification of HRS transcript normalized to 18S. (B) HRS protein normalized to actin (numbers represent HRS-to-actin protein ratios relative to the NT control). Non-consecutive lanes ran on the same gel are shown. (C) Relative cell viability in cell lines stably expressing indicated shRNAs. (D) HCV RNA replication in stable cell lines 6 and 72 h postelectroporation with WT HCV RNA or E1-E2 deletion mutant measured by luciferase assays (RLU = relative light units). (E) Intra- and extracellular infectivity measured by luciferase assays in naive cells inoculated with clarified cell lysates and supernatants derived from the HCV-electroporated cell lines, respectively. Plotted data represent infectivity normalized to NT controls. (F) Level of viral RNA released into the supernatant (sup) at 72 h postelectroporation. Dashed lines represent the background level observed in the ΔE1-E2 mutant. Means ± SD of results of 3 independent experiments are shown. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001 (Student’s t test).