Figure 6.

Inhibitory effect of polyanionic compounds against HSV-2 infection of epithelial cells. ME180 cells (seeded at 1.5 × 10⁴ cells/well and cultured overnight), were exposed to HSV-2 (~5 × 10⁴ Pfu/well) in the presence of compound for 1 hour, or alternatively, exposed to compound alone. Following compound/virus removal by washing, cells were cultured for a further 48 hours when viability was determined by MTT dye reduction. Cell viability (○, dotted line) following compound treatment was calculated as a percentage of the viability of cells exposed to culture medium alone. The effect of compound treatment on the infectivity of HSV-2 (●, solid line) was calculated as a percentage of infection observed in cells exposed to virus alone. Compounds tested were: A) PRO 2000; and B) Dextrin sulphate. Data represent the mean ± SEM of 3 independent experiments where each condition was tested in triplicate. Inserted figures represent the mean ± SEM concentration inhibiting 50% HSV-2 infection (IC₅₀) or concentration causing 50% toxicity (TD₅₀) towards ME180 cells.