Fig. 6.

Beta variant of SARS-COV-2 exhibited increased infectivity and higher induction of antiviral and inflammatory responses. hCECs from three donors were infected with SARS-CoV-2 parental strain and beta variant at a lower MOI of 0.1 for indicated time points. (A) qPCR analysis was performed to quantitate the viral RNA copy number wherein uninfected cells served as mock controls. (B) Culture media were used for dot blot detection of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and the densitometry values were plotted with respect to the mock-infected control (C). (D) The expression of select antiviral response genes, ISG15, and inflammatory cytokine, CXCL10, was quantitated by qPCR. The experiment was performed in biological triplicates and statistical analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA; ns non-significant; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001; ****p < 0.0001.