Fig. 6. F772S-enhanced viral assembly/release was associated with the enlargement of LDs in HCV-infected cells.

Huh7.5 cells were infected with HCV (MOI = 0.1), and ~90% of cells were HCV positive at day 7. The cells were fixed and stained for HCV and LDs. a The supernatant infectivity titers at day 7 post infection. b Images of HCV antigens (Core/NS5A-EGFP) (green), nuclei (blue), LD (red), and the merged images. Bar, 10 μm. c The average size of LDs in HCV positive Huh7.5 cells (10–15 cells). d The average numbers of LDs per Huh7.5 cell positive for HCV (by ImageJ software). See Fig. 3 legend for the annotations of statistical analysis. e–h The correlation analysis of the total HCV protein and the formation of LDs in 26 HCV-infected cells using ImageJ software. Correlation coefficient (r value) and p value are shown. p ≤ 0.05 indicates a statistically correlation, in which the higher r value suggests the stronger correlation