Figure 1

Genome-wide expression profiling of the brains of BALB/c and 129SvEv mice infected with MHV. BALB/c and 129SvEv mice were intranasally inoculated with PBS (control) or with MHV-A59. At day 2 and 5, mice (n = 4) were sacrificed and the brains and livers were harvested. The PBS-groups (n = 4) were also sacrificed at 5 days post inoculation. (A) Viral RNA (vRNA) levels within the brain were determined at 5 days post inoculation by quantitative RT-PCR targeting MHV-specific sequences. Standard deviations are indicated (*P < 0.0001). (B) Microarray analysis was performed as described in the Material & Methods section. The PBS-inoculated BALB/c or 129SvEv mice were taken as reference. Based on the significant alterations in gene expression (≥ 1.5 fold change cut-off) within the brains of BALB/c mice at 5 days post infection, a cluster analysis (standard correlation) was performed resulting in the indicated gene tree (n = 121). The different conditions (i.e. mouse strains and day post infection) are indicated. (C-D) From the the gene tree shown in panel B, clusters representing "early" and "late" genes could be identified. For detailed information see the text and Additional file 1. (E) The IFN-α4, IFN-β1, and IFN-γ mRNA levels were determined by quantitative RT-PCR. The fold changes after infection with MHV relative to the PBS-inoculated animals are shown. Standard deviations are indicated.