Figure 6.

Identification of VP1 as an inhibitor of IRF7 dimerization in a dose-dependent manner. HEK293T cells were transfected with expression plasmids for 2 μg IRF7 together with VP1 in an increased dose from 0, 1, and 2 μg. Twenty-four hours later, cells were incubated with 2 μg TBK1 expression plasmid or the empty vector as a stimulator for another 12 h. The samples were separated by electrophoresis on 12% native PAGE gels, and then analyzed by western blotting (A), the relative dimerization level versus the total level of IRF7 protein was indicated as the average of three independent experiments; *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001.