Assembly and release of infectious hepatitis C virus involving unusual organization of the secretory pathway

Figure 7 Release of hepatitis C virus particles by baby hamster kidney-West Nile virus cells requires RAB1 in a cytoplasmic subcompartment. Three days after transfection with the HCV-coding and P2B plasmids, or not, IF of BHK-21 (A) or BHK-WNV (B) cells was performed with anti-HCV serum (green) and anti-RAB1 antibody (red), followed by confocal microscopy analysis; C: BHK-WNV cells treated (right panels) or not (left panels) with RAB1 siRNA were transfected with the HCV expression plasmid system; IF was performed as in (B); A-C: Nuclei were counterstained with DAPI (blue); D: BHK-WNV cells treated with RAB1 siRNA were transfected with the HCV expression plasmid system. Cells and SN were harvested 3 d later, and analyzed by Western blot; Hsp90 = control; bottom: Densitometry analysis. HCV: Hepatitis C virus; BHK-WNV: Baby hamster kidney-West Nile virus; SN: Supernatants.