Fig. 4
HSV-1 and HSV-2 infection induces a pro-inflammatory response in human fetal organotypic brain slice cultures. Brain slice cultures were infected with 106 plaque forming units per mL of HSV-1-GFP or HSV-2-GFP. At 24 h post-infection, cellular RNA was isolated from HSV- and mock-infected fetal brain slices to determine transcript levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines [i.e. IL1B (interleukin-1 β, IL-1β), IFNB1 (IFN-β), TNFA (tumor necrosis factor alpha, TNF-α), IL6 (interleukin-6, IL-6)], the chemokine CXCL10 and HLA-DRA as a prototypic microglia activation marker (MHC-II) by RT-qPCR). Fold changes in gene expression, normalized to GAPDH and mock-infected brain slices using the 2−ΔΔCt method, are shown. The data represent mean ± SD from two independent subjects (triangle and circle symbols) with three biological replicates each. Statistical significance was determined using Two-tailed Student’s t test. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. ns, not significant