Fig. 2.

PI-based cART effectively inhibits both cell-to-cell and cell-free spread of HIV-1. Cell-to-cell and cell-free infections were assessed in the presence of a serial dilution of a PI+RTI combination: (a) LPV+TFV and (b) LPV+NVP. The drugs were combined in a ratio based on their IC₅₀ values determined in a cell-free infection assay. Infection was quantified by detecting HIV-1 pol DNA transcripts generated at each dilution of the combination by qPCR and expressed as a fraction of the no drug control. A representative from two independent experiments is shown. The error bars represent the standard deviation of the mean. The bold lines represent the non-linear regression curve-fit and dotted lines represent actual data points.