Fig. 8.

hRSV infects and activates astrocytes in vitro. Primary cultures of mouse astrocytes were infected with hRSV at MOI 5 and cells were analyzed to determine the percentage of F-hRSV⁺ cells (a), the number of N-hRSV copies analyzed by RT-qPCR (b), MFI of GFAP (F-hRSV⁺ GFAP⁺) cells (c) and the quantification of NO⁻² in the supernatants of mice astrocytes primary cultures (d). Protein levels of IL-4 (e), IL-10 (f), TNF-α (g) and IL-6 (h) were evaluated by ELISA. Five independent experiments were performed. Comparisons between groups were performed using a two-way ANOVA test with Bonferronís post-test. **** P < 0.0001, *** P < 0.0005, ** P < 0.005, * P < 0.05 indicates that means are significantly different. Bars indicate mean ± SEM.