Figure 2

Inhibition of HSV-1 by ODNs. A and B. Co-application of ODNs and HSV-1. HSV-1 virions were mixed with 2.5 μM of the indicated ODNs, a concentration needed in the absence of transfection reagent. The mixture was added to Vero cells (arrow head and bold arrow with overline). The titer of HSV-1 was determined after 24 h. A. Plaque assay. The supernatants of infected cultures were assayed for plaque formation on Vero cells. Representative 1:100 dilutions of triplicates are shown. B. Quantitative PCR. HSV-1 DNA was purified from supernatants and quantified by glycoprotein G-specific PCR. Relative HSV-1 DNA levels are shown +SE. The total number of infections (n) for each ODN is indicated below the graph. The statistical significance is indicated by asterisks, **P ≤ 0.01 against PBS. C. Vero cells were treated with various concentrations of ODN 48 G and S2 as indicated in the presence of transfection reagent (indicated by circle) at the indicated concentrations and were incubated over night (o/n) at 37°C. The cells were infected (bold vertical arrow) at a moi = 0.001 and after 24 h the HSV-1 DNA levels in the supernatants were measured by quantitative PCR (vertical arrow). The mean value ± SE of 2 different experiments is shown. D. Plaque Assay. Vero cells were transfected with 50 nM ODN 48 G or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and infected as described in A. Dilutions of the supernatant were assayed for plaque formation on Vero cells. Representative pictures of triplicates are shown. *P ≤ 0.05 against PBS.