The autophagy elongation complex colocalizes with HCV replicative intermediate dsRNA.

A. JFH1-infected Huh7 cells at more than 90% were immunostained for dsRNA and NS3 or ATG16L1. Alternatively, infected cells were transfected with pGFP-ATG5 and analyzed by confocal microscopy for dsRNA and GFP-ATG5. Scale bar, 10μm. B. The average of percent colocalization of NS3, GFP-ATG5 or ATG16L1 with dsRNA was determined. The values of overlapping fluorescence signals with dsRNA proteins were calculated using Manders’ colocalization coefficient (n = 5 cells, 10 arbitrary positions). C. Uninfected Huh7 cells immunostained for dsRNA. Negative staining shows specificity of dsRNA utilized in this experiment. Scale bar, 10μm.