Human Cytomegalovirus Entry into Dendritic Cells Occurs via a Macropinocytosis-Like Pathway in a pH-Independent and Cholesterol-Dependent Manner
Figure 6
Endosomal pH neutralization does not inhibit HCMV internalization or MDDC infection.
A) Cells were pre-incubated with NH4Cl-containing buffer (50, 5, 0.5 mM) or bafilomycin A1 (320, 32, 3.2 nM) and compared to the vehicle (DMSO; 1/100). The cells were processed as described in the legend for Figure 1D. For NH4Cl, n= 3 independent experiments with 3 different donors in total, for bafilomycin A1 n= 6 independent experiments with 8 different donors in total. ns: not significant (p=0,0939). B) TEM picture of (50 nM) bafilomycin A1 treated MDDCs incubated with HCMV (VHL/E; MOI=10). Black arrows indicate HCMV virions. C) Quantification of infectious HCMV particles by TEM immobilized at the plasma membrane (OUT, white bars) or internalized into vacuoles (IN, black bars) of (50 nM) BafA1-treated MDDCs incubated for two hours with VHL/E (MOI=10) (n=5-6 cells per condition). The results are displayed as the median values of the percentage (±SD) of plasma membrane-associated and internalized HCMV particles. These results are representative of two distinct experiments.