Fig. 1

EBV replication modulates TLR8 expression in monocytes in vitro. Negative selected monocytes from dcSSc patients and HDs were infected with EBV. For total RNA and immunostaining, monocytes were harvested 5 days PI. a,b,c,e,f,g mRNA expression of EBV-lytic and TLR genes was analyzed by quantitative PCR. Results are expressed as fold-change induction normalized by one of the mock infected healthy controls. 18S rRNA was used as internal control. Bars represent the mean ± SEM. The two-tailed t test was used for statistical analysis. d Immunofluorescence double staining shows EBV-BFRF1-antigen (blue) and TLR8 (red) co-expression in monocytes from one representative dcSSc and HD infected with EBV-p2089. Original magnification 60×, scale bar = 5 μm. h PCR products of EBV DNA in monocytes from representative dcSSc and HD; DNA from Raji-EBV-positive cells and DNA from 293 were used as positive control and negative control, respectively. GAPDH used as internal control. b, e, f and h refer to monocytes expressing EBV-p2089 latent infection. dcSSc diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis, EBV Epstein-Barr virus, HD healthy donor, TLR Toll-like receptor