Fig. 5
The UL7-MU viral strain exhibits attenuated phenotypes in a latent mouse infection model compared with the WT strain. a BALB/c mice were infected with WT HSV-1, UL7-MU or PBS via the foot pad at a dose of 5x103/10 μl per mouse. The viral load was detected in the CNS of mice challenged with WT (open boxes), UL7-MU (filled circles) or PBS (filled triangles) by absolute real-time RT-PCR. Viral copy numbers were quantified according to the HSV-1 DNA standard pGM-T UL30 plasmid. b The levels of LAT expression in the CNS of mice challenged with WT (open boxes), UL7-MU (filled circles) or PBS (filled triangles), as determined by relative real-time RT-PCR. The graphic indicates the fold change of RNA levels in virus-infected mice compared to PBS-injected mice. The mouse housekeeping gene GAPDH was used to normalize quantities in mouse tissue. Relative quantification was performed by the comparative Ct method (△△Ct) using RNA from PBS mice as a calibrator. c Viral load detection in the spinal cord of mice challenged with WT (open boxes), UL7-MU (filled circles) or PBS (filled triangles). dThe levels of LAT expression in the spinal cord of mice challenged with WT (open boxes), UL7-MU (filled circles) or PBS (filled triangles). e Viral load detection in the trigeminal nerve of mice challenged with WT (open boxes), UL7-MU (filled circles) or PBS (filled triangles). f The levels of LAT expression in the trigeminal nerves of mice challenged with WT (open boxes), UL7-MU (filled circles) or PBS (filled triangles). Data are shown as the means ± SD (experiments done once in triplicate). ∗∗∗ P < 0.005; ∗∗ P < 0.01; ∗ P < 0.05