Macrophage Activation Associated with Chronic Murine Cytomegalovirus Infection Results in More Severe Experimental Choroidal Neovascularization
Figure 5
MCMV infection stimulates production of VEGF mRNA and VEGF protein in monolayers of IC-21 mouse macrophages.
Monolayers of IC-21 mouse macrophages were either mock infected or infected with MCMV (2.5 PFU/cell) and analyzed for amounts of VEGF mRNA and VEGF protein at 24 hour and/or 48 hour postinfection. Asterisks indicate statistical significance when compared with mock-infected monolayers. (A) Quantitative RT-PCR assay for VEGF mRNA (black bars) and TNF-α mRNA (gray bars) in monolayers of IC-21 macrophages either mock-infected, treated with LPS, inoculated with UV-inactivated virus, or infected with MCMV at 24 hr or 48 hr after infection and compared with mock-infected monolayers. (p = ≤0.04) (B) ELISA for VEGF protein (black bars) in monolayers of IC-21 macrophages infected with MCMV at 48 hr postinfection and compared with mock-infected monolayers (p = 0.01).