Figure 2.

Hfe deficiency protects mice from influenza virus H7N9 infection. (A) The survival of H7N9 virus-infected WT, hfe^−/-, mavs^−/-, hfe^−/- mavs^−/- and hjv^−/- mice were monitored for 14 d (n = 12 per group). (B) Viral titers in the lung were quantified at 2 or 5 dpi by TCID₅₀ assay (n = 3 per group). (C) Immunohistochemical analysis of the influenza virus proteins NP at 2 or 5 dpi in the lungs of WT, hfe^−/-, mavs^−/-, hfe^−/- mavs^−/- mice infected with H7N9 virus. Scale bars: 200 μm. (D) WT and hfe^−/- mice were infected with H7N9 for the indicated number of days, and their lung pathology was observed by the indicate of stars (scale bars: 1 cm). The error bars represent standard deviations, and differences between the experimental and control groups are determined by 2-way ANOVA and the mouse survival study, Kaplan-Meier survival curves are generated and analyzed by Log-Rank test (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001)