Figure 4

FFA treatment blocks the antiviral response of IFN-α against HCV. S3-GFP and infected Huh-7.5 cells were cultured with FFA for 5 days and then treated with IFN-α for 72 hours. (A) The antiviral effect of IFN-α with and without FFA treatment measured by real-time RT-PCR in S3-GFP replicon cells. *P < 0.01, **P < 0.001 , Student t test. (B) Renilla luciferse activity showing the antiviral effect of IFN-α in the infected Huh-7.5 cells co-cultured with increasing concentration of FFA. The values are normalized with total protein. (C) Luciferase activity showing the dose dependent antiviral effect of IFN-α blocked by FFA treatment (100 μM) in the infected Huh-7.5 cells. The values in the y-axis represent the values (RLU) normalized per μg of protein lysates. The values in the x-axis represent the different concentrations of IFN-α (IU/ml).