S1 Fig -

hIL-6 is a functional homolog of vIL-6 (A) The number of up-regulated genes (log2 fold change >1, adj p-value < 0.01) after hIL-6 stimulation. Red circle represents THP-1 cells and green circle represents vIL-6/THP-1 cells. (B) Individual gene expression in THP-1 cells with vIL-6 stimulation (left, N = 8206) and hIL-6 stimulation (right, N = 8210). Representative gene names were labeled adjacent to dots. The red dashed line indicated log2 fold change = ±1 (vertical) and -log10 adj p-value = 2 (horizontal). (C) KEGG pathway analysis performed on up-regulated genes (log2 fold change >1, adj p-value < 0.01) in THP-1 cells with vIL-6 and hIL-6 stimulation. The result showed the top three pathways each. (D) Individual up-regulated gene expression (N = 348) in parent THP-1 and vIL-6/THP-1 cells after hIL-6 stimulation. Data were analyzed using Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed ranked test and shown as median. (E) Measurement of cell proliferation with MTT assays. 1 X 104 THP-1 or vIL-6/THP-1 cells were cultured in triplicate in a 96 well plate. vIL-6 was added to vIL-6/THP-1 cells every other day. OD (570-690nm) was measured on day 0,1,2,4 and 7. Data were analyzed using unpaired Student’s t test and shown as mean ± SD. (F) Immunoblotting with antibodies directed against STAT3, pshopho-STAT3 (Y705) and β-Actin (loading control) protein in THP-1 and vIL6/THP-1 cells. (G) FACS analysis showing the gp130 expression on cell surface. (H) The proportion of GFP-positive cells at 72 hours post-infection. The percentage was measured by flow cytometry.

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