FIG. 2.
IRNA selectively inhibits HCV IRES-mediated translation in vitro. The bicistronic construct containing the HCV IRES flanked by CAT and luciferase genes was transcribed by T7 RNA polymerase, and the bicistronic RNA was translated in vitro in 25 μl of HeLa cell lysate in the absence (A, lane 1) or presence of increasing concentrations of IRNA (lanes 2 to 5; 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 μg, respectively). (B) The band intensities of luciferase (LUC) and CAT were quantitated by densitometry, and the ratios of luciferase to CAT were calculated. The percentage of luciferase/CAT translation was plotted against the concentration of IRNA.