(A.) Vero cells were transfected with S protein tagged with Strep-tag II and treated with DMSO (labeled as condition ND for no drug) or 5 μM Maraviroc for 48 hours (treated immediately after transfection; labeled as condition A), or 5 μM Maraviroc for 72 hours (treated 24 hours before transfection, labeled as condition B). Immunohistochemistry showed that S protein expression resulted in the formation of multinucleated cells, which was inhibited with Maraviroc treatment.
(B.) The frequency of multinucleated cells, normalized to total cell number, was reduced with Maraviroc treatment.
(C.) The average number of nuclei in multinucleated cells was also reduced with Maraviroc treatment.
The quantitative data are depicted as the mean of three biologically independent experiments ± Standard Error ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001, ***p < 0.0001.