Fig 5. miR-122-independent propagation of HCV_122KO.

(A) Intracellular HCV-RNA levels (left panel) and infectious titers in the culture supernatants (right panel) of Hep3B cells infected with HCV or HCV_122KO were determined. (B) Hec1B cells with or without exogenous expression of miR-122 were infected with HCV or HCV_122KO and the levels of intracellular HCV-RNA were determined. (C) Immunoblotting of 293T-CLDN cells with exogenous expression of miR-122 and ApoE. (D) 293T-CLDN cells were infected with either HCV or HCV_122KO and the levels of intracellular HCV-RNA (upper) and infectious titers in the culture supernatants (lower) were determined at 12, 36 and 72 hpi (horizontal). Error bars indicate the standard deviation of the mean and asterisks indicate significant differences (*P < 0.05; **P < 0.01) versus each result at 12 hpi.