FIG 5.

Autophagy inhibition suppresses SARS-CoV-2 replication in lung tissues from hACE2 transgenic mice. hACE2 transgenic mice (n = 6) were intratracheally inoculated with 10⁴ TCID₅₀ of SARS-CoV-2 and intraperitoneally administered either PBS, 3-MA (30 mg/kg), or rapamycin (4 mg/kg) for 6 consecutive days, with the first dose given 2 h before infection. Mice were sacrificed at 1, 3, and 5 dpi and lung tissues and primary organs were collected for RT-qPCR and in situ hybridization analysis. (A) RT-qPCR analysis of SARS-CoV-2 N gene copies in lung tissues at 5 dpi. (B and C) RT-qPCR analysis of SARS-CoV-2 N gene copies in lung tissues at 1 dpi and 3 dpi (B) and primary organs at 5 dpi (C) from mock- or SARS-CoV-2-infected mice with or without 3-MA treatment. (D) Representative images and analysis of in situ hybridization for SARS-CoV-2 RNA in lung tissues at 5 dpi. Scale bar = 50 μm. Data were expressed as means ± SEM from three independent experiments. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001.