Fig. 1. The combination of alcohol and RSV potentiates cilia slowing coincident with PKC epsilon action in mouse tracheal epithelial cell cultures.

Ciliated mouse tracheal epithelial cells (MTEC) cultured at air-liquid interface and pretreated 24 hr with or without 100 mM alcohol (EtOH) were infected with 1 × 105 TCID50 respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) for 1–6 hr. Control cells received no treatment (Media). A) Ciliary beat frequency (CBF) decreased in RSV-treated MTEC (ap<0.05 vs Media at matched time points of 3–6 hr) while EtOH+RSV further enhanced cilia slowing due to RSV only (bp<0.05 vs RSV only at matched time points of 3–6 hr). EtOH+RSV potentiated the time of RSV-induced CBF decrease compared to media control (cp<0.01 vs Media at 1 hr). B) Protein kinase C epsilon (PKCε) activity was increased by RSV (ap<0.05 vs Media at 1 hr), enhanced by EtOH+RSV (bp<0.01 vs Media at matched time points of 1–2 hr), and significantly decreased with EtOH+RSV (cp<0.05 vs Media or RSV only at matched time points of 5–6 hr). Experiments were performed independently three times each using triplicate data measurements (n=9).