Sustained antiviral activity of IFN-λ HCV cell culture.

<p><b>(A)</b> Persistently infected HCV (JFH1ΔV3-Rluc) cultures were treated with equivalent concentrations of IFN-λ1 (25 ng/ml) or IFN-α (250 IU/mL). Aliquot of infected cells were collected at every 24 hours and HCV replication was measured by <i>Renilla</i> luciferase activity. <b>(B)</b> Persistently infected HCV cultures were treated with increasing concentrations of IFN-α (100–500 I.U/mL) or IFN-λ (10-50ng/mL), HCV replication was measured at 24 hours. <b>(C)</b> R4-GFP and S3-GFP cells (2X10⁵/ 10-cm plate) were treated with IFN-α (10,100 or 1000 I.U/ml) in growth media supplemented with G-418 (1000ng/mL) for 6 weeks. The success of antiviral treatment was determined by the decrease in the number of the resistant colony. <b>(D)</b> The colony assay in the presence of IFN-λ (1, 10, or 100 ng/ml) treatment of S3-GFP and R4-GFP cells. (<b>E)</b> Quantification of HCV-GFP fusion protein by flow cytometry of S3-GFP and R4-GFP cells after IFN-α treatment. <b>(F)</b> Quantification of HCV-GFP fusion protein by flow cytometry of S3-GFP and R4-GFP cells after IFN-λ treatment. <b>(G)</b> HCV positive strand RNA levels in S3-GFP and R4-GFP cells by real-time RT-PCR after IFN-α treatment. <b>(H)</b> HCV positive strand RNA levels in S3-GFP and R4-GFP cells by real-time RT-PCR after IFN-λ treatment, **p≤0.01, ***p≤0.001.