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. 2020 Sep 28;11:4884. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-18678-0

Fig. 5. Spread of a defective gene drive virus.

Fig. 5

a Viral titers at day 10 in the presence of increasing concentrations of Interferon-γ (IFN-γ). n = 3 (IFN-γ = 100 ng/mL) or n = 5 (other concentrations). b Viral titer and proportion of viruses expressing eGFP alone, mCherry alone, or both, after coinfection with equal amounts of Towne-eGFP and GD-mCherry, in presence of increasing concentrations of IFN-γ. n = 3 (IFN-γ = 100 ng/mL) or n = 5 (other concentrations). c Supernatants from coinfected cells were collected at day 10 and used to infect fresh cells. Titers were measured 8 days later. Colors indicate the proportion of the different viruses relative to the height of the bar. n = 4. d Model for the spread of defective gene drive viruses: Wildtype viruses express UL23 and block IFN-γ antiviral response while gene drive viruses are UL23-KO and are severely inhibited by IFN-γ. Upon coinfection, UL23 originating from the wildtype virus—either brought in with the incoming virion as a tegument protein or expressed early on—is sufficient to block the IFN-γ antiviral response. A first generation of new gene drive viruses can be created. These viruses are, however, UL23-KO and are severely inhibited by IFN-γ when infecting new cells. Titers are expressed in PFU/mL. Error bars represent SEM between biological replicates. *p-value < 0.05; ****p < 0.0001; two-way ANOVA with Sidak’s multiple comparison test on log-transformed value. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.