Synthetic N-terminal peptide of OR14I1 blocks HCMV infection of ARPE-19 epithelial cells and is dependent on the presence of viral PC. (A) TB40E-GFP encoding the viral PC or AD169 lacking the PC was preincubated with peptide 1 (100 μg/mL) and then infected on ARPE-19 epithelial cells or HEL fibroblasts (MOI 2.0). Cells were fixed, permeabilized, stained for DNA (blue), immunostained for viral immediate-early protein (IE), and imaged (4×). (B) Quantitation of data in A indicating the percent IE-positive cells. Data represent the mean of n = 3 experiments ±SD. **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001; NS, not significant.