Verification of productive infection and viral DNA load of mice infected with different doses of mCMV Smith.

<p>Mice infected at 8–10 weeks of age with 10², 10³, 10⁴ or 10⁶ plaque forming units (pfu) mCMV Smith strain or mock treated with PBS were evaluated on day 10 post infection. Viral DNA loads were determined individually for <b>A.</b> lungs and <b>B.</b> Salivary glands of 5 mice per group. <b>C.</b> Salivary gland viral titers were quantitated in pfu/ml to confirm productive infection. Results represent a single experiment with mean values and standard errors indicated by horizontal bar and error bars, with individual dots representing each mouse. Mock treated mice had no detectable viral DNA or infectious virus. * indicates that means were significantly higher than mock. ** indicates that means are significantly lower than mice infected with 10⁶ pfu. Comparisons were by Students t-test using p-value <0.05.