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. 2021 Jul 13;10(7):661. doi: 10.3390/biology10070661

Figure 4.

Figure 4

Imiquimod blocks HIV entry into macrophages. (A–D) Macrophages were treated with either imiquimod (10 μg/mL) for 24 h prior to HIV Bal infection (before), or imiquimod and infected with HIV Bal simultaneously (simul), or infected with HIV Bal for 3 h prior to imiquimod treatment (after). Cellular and culture supernatant RNAs were collected on day 9 post-infection and subjected to the real-time PCR for HIV Gag gene expression (A,B). Proteins of cells and culture supernatant were collected on day 9 post-infection and subjected to Western blot for HIV p24 expression (C,D). (E) Macrophages were treated with either imiquimod (10 μg/mL) for 24 h prior to HIV NL-4-3-ΔEnv-eGFP-Bal infection (before), or imiquimod and infected with HIV NL-4-3-ΔEnv-eGFP-Bal simultaneously (simul), or infected with HIV NL-4-3-ΔEnv-eGFP-Bal for 24 h prior to imiquimod treatment (after). At 72 h post-infection, the green fluorescence was measured by confocal microscope. Data are shown as mean ± SD of 3 independent experiments. Scale bar, 500 μm (* p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01).