Figure 5.

Gp120 induces IFNβ and ISRE through activation of TLR2. HEK293 cells were transiently transfected with either IFNβ-luciferase (a–d) or ISRE-luciferase (e–h) reporter in combination with TLR2 (a, b, e, f) or TLR4 (c, d, g, h) expression plasmid alone or in combination with CD14 and or MD2 expression plasmid. At 24h after transfection, cells were stimulated with gp120 (100 ng/ml), or env ⁻ mutant (10⁵ IU/well) or 10 μg/ml Pam3CSK4 (positive control for TLR2), or (0.1 mg LPS (positive control for TLR4) or with medium (mock, negative control). Cells were disrupted, and luciferase activity was measured 16 h after stimulation and normalized to β-gal-luciferase activity. Data shown are representative of three individual experiments, each performed in triplicate. Data are represented as mean±s.d. **P<0.01, ***P<0.001 and ****P<0.0001. β-gal, β-galactosidase; GEC, genital epithelial cell; IFNβ, interferon-β; IRF3, interferon regulatory factor 3; ISRE, interferon-stimulated response element; LPS, lipopolysaccharide; TLR, Toll-like receptor.