Cytokine expression of hepatocytes upon DENV-2 infection.

The three hepatic cell lines and PHHs from 2 different donors (D1 and D2) were mock-infected (M) or infected with DENV-2 (DV) at MOI of 5. At the specified time points, cells and culture supernatants were harvested for assessment of cytokine expression. (A-I) A heatmap of differential cytokine protein production by hepatic cell lines and PHHs was quantified by Bio-Plex Pro Human Cytokine 27-plex assay. The numbers shown in the heatmap are average amounts (pg/ml) of secreted cytokines from two experiments of hepatic cell lines or two donors for PHHs. An equal number of each cell type was used for RNA extraction and an equal amount of RNA from each source was further subjected to RT-PCR and gel electrophoresis. The three hepatic cell lines and PHHs from 2 different donors (D1 and D2) were mock-infected (M) or infected with different MOIs (0.1, 1 and 5) of DENV-2. The cells were harvested for RT-PCR analysis of TRAIL, IFN-α, and IFN-β and a representative gel, showing RT-PCR products corresponding to these cytokines, is shown in J.