FIG 4.

Effect of inhibition of miRNA-223-3p in the lung histopathology of SARS-CoV-infected mice. (A) Histopathological analysis of lungs of mice treated with miRNA-223-3p antisense LNAs and infected with SARS-CoV-ΔE and WT viruses, as described in Fig. 3. Tissue sections were prepared from lungs at 2 and 4 days p.i. and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Three independent mice per group were analyzed. Images are representative of 50 microscopy fields observed for each independent mouse. (B and C) Scoring of lung histopathology at 2 and 4 days p.i. Pathology of mouse lungs was scored in a blinded fashion using 3 mice per condition according to the presence of inflammatory cell infiltrates (B) and edema in air spaces (C), as described in Materials and Methods. A scale of 0 (none) to 3 (severe) was used, according to previously described procedures (49, 50). Mean values are represented. Error bars indicate standard error of the mean. Statistical significance was calculated by two-tailed Student´s t test. ns, nonsignificant; *, P value < 0.05; ***, P value < 0.001.