Figure 2.

Antioxidant enzymes are not regulated by expression of viral proteins or exposure to oxidative stress in Huh-7 cells. The mRNA expression levels of the antioxidant SOD enzymes SOD1 and SOD2 (a), scavenging enzymes of H₂O₂, CAT and GPx1 (b), and HO-1 (c) were determined using qPCR in Huh-7 cells transiently expressing the empty vector, pTracerCore or pTracerNS3/4A with or without menadione treatment for 6 hours. The relative mRNA expression was normalized to the expression of 18S. 2-way ANOVA was performed for a group comparison of the means with a Bonferroni post-test and t test was applied to compare the means between single comparisons; the asterisks represent the p value as: ***<0.001, **<0.003 and, *<0.04. (p value > 0.05). NT = No treated cells.