Fig. 4. STAT3 silence repressed HCV replication in JFH-1-infected Huh7 cells. RT-qPCR assay of STAT3 mRNA expression (A) and western blot assay of STAT3 expression (B) in Huh7 cells transfected with si-STAT3 or si-con. (C and D) Huh7 cells transfected with si-STAT3 or si-con were infected with JFH-1 for 24 h, followed by the analysis of HCV RNA expression (C), NS5A and NS3 protein expressions (D). (E–G) Huh7 cells were pretreated with various concentrations (0, 10, and 20 μM) of AG490 for 1 h and then infected with JFH-1 for 24 h, followed by the detection of STAT3-Y705 phosphorylation (E), HCV RNA expression (F), NS3 and NS5A proteins expression (G). *P < 0.05 vs. respective control.