Figure 5.

Virus infection of GFRα1 siRNA transduced cells. (A) MCF7 cells transfected with GFRα1-specific or non-specific (“Control”) siRNA pools were infected after 72 h with KNTc-gD:GDNFΔ38 (2 pfu/cell) or KNTc-gD:wt (0.2 pfu/cell) and stained at 6 hpi for ICP4 (upper rows) and DAPI (DAPI + ICP4, lower rows); representative images from triplicate infections are shown. (B) Quantification of the ICP4⁺ cell populations as a percentage of the total analyzed cells (DAPI) was performed for each treatment group using ImageJ software. Averages represent counts from 3–6 images ± SD; statistical differences were determined by two-way ANOVA (**** p < 0.0001). (C) Untreated and siRNA-treated MCF7 cells were assessed for GFRα1 protein expression by Western blot analysis of whole cell lysates; three biological replicates are shown for each condition. β-actin detection was used as loading control.