Figure 3

Determination of viral load and viral gene expression following immunosuppression. A EBV viral load in PBMCs (copies/μg DNA) was determined using qPCR. Three independent experiments were carried out for each sample at each interval post-cyclosporin A (CsA) treatment. The mean values, together with the standard deviations are presented. Viral load clearly increased with increasing duration of immunosuppression. No EBV was detected pre-infection (Pre-I) or in the first few days post-CsA treatment of EBV infected animals. B Reverse transcriptase PCR for EBV EBNA-1, EBNA-2, BZLF, and LMP-1 was performed on RNA extracted from PBMCs of rabbits at various time intervals following daily treatment with CsA. Weak and intermittent expression of several EBV genes was detected towards the end of the CsA treatment period. Positive (+) and negative (−) controls and the size of each amplicon are indicated.