Localization in neurons of U_S9 expressed from the viral genome or in virus-free context.

<p>RNs were either transfected with the GFP-U_S9 plasmid (g9: top panels) or infected (MOI = 10 pfu/cell) with the recombinant HSV-1(F) carrying the chimeric GFP-U_S9 gene (Fg9: bottom panels). Left first panels in both rows show the fluorescent pattern of transfected or infected cells, with the bright punctuate signal concentrated in the cell body and also dispersed along neurites. Two representative regions (indicated by small frames in left panels) from both transfected and infected cells were chosen and are shown at higher magnification in the right 2 panels (yellow frames: cell body; blue frames: neurites tips). Black & white rendering of the transfected or infected neurons shown on left panels were obtained by pseudo-coloring the microtubulin cytoskeleton revealed by immunofluorescence (shown in red in the right two panels), and are included to help locate the magnified regions in the complex neurons morphology. Both central and peripheral regions of transfected and infected cells show the microtubular architecture (red) with U_S9-vesicles (green). In both regions, localization of transfected U_S9 seems to mostly overlap that of U_S9 expressed in the viral context. Bar = 10 µm (in the left 2 panels); Bar = 5 µm (in the right 2 panels).