Fig. 2

HSV-2 infection up-regulated TLR4 expression in genital epithelial cells. a Significant CPE was observed under optical microscope with time-dependent manner. b–c HSV-2 infection up-regulated TLR4 expression in mRNA level in HEC-1-A (b) and VK2 cells (c). Total RNA was extracted from HEC-1-A or VK2 cells at time points as described. TLR4 mRNA transcription level was determined through real-time PCR. d HSV-2 infection up-regulated TLR4 expression in protein level in HEC-1-A and VK2 cells. Cells were harvested at time points as described and TLR4 expression was detected via western blot. e–f Certain IE and E gene products might be the trigger for TLR4 expression up-regulation. e HEC-1-A cells were mock-treated or treated with acyclovir (5 μg/ml), and then infected with HSV-2. The other cell sample was infected with UV-treated HSV-2. TLR4 expression was determined via real-time PCR. f HEC-1-A cells were transfected with TLR4-promoter-luciferase plasmids and pRL-TK as a transfection control. After 24 h post-transfection, cells were treated as same as mentioned in (e). RLUs were determined as described. All experiments were performed three times. The representative experiments were shown