Fig. 2: LECT2 is an antiviral hepatokine.

a qRT-PCR analysis of IFNB1, DDX58 and IFIH1 in r-LECT2-treated KH cells at 12 h after H77S.3/GLuc-RNA transfection. Results were normalised to those of ACTB. Data shown are means of 3 technical replicates ± SEM. **p = 0.004, ***p < 0.001, not significant (ns) by two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparison test. b GLuc activity in r-LECT2-treated KH cells. Data shown are means of 3 technical replicates ± SEM. ***p < 0.001 by two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparison test. c qRT-PCR analysis of IFNB1 and EMCV in non-treated and r-LECT2-treated KH cells at 24 h after EMCV infection. Data shown are means of 3 technical replicates ± SEM. Not significant (ns) by two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparison test. d, e, f, g WT, Lect2-TG and Lect2-KO mice were infected with 1.0 × 10⁴ pfu (LOW) or 1.0 × 10⁶ pfu (HIGH) LCMV via intraperitoneal injection. d, e Body weight and liver weight of these mice before virus infection. Data shown are means of 4 (WT) or 5 (Lect2-TG and Lect2-KO) mice ± SEM. Not significant (ns) by two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparison test. f qRT-PCR analysis of Ifnb1, Ddx58 and LCMV in the liver at 7 days after LCMV infection. Data shown are means of 5 biological replicates ± SEM. ***p < 0.001, **p = 0.005, *p = 0.01 by two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparison test. g Plaque assay in the liver on 7 days post infection. Data shown are means of 4 biological replicates;± SEM. *p = 0.01, **p = 0.003 by two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparison test. h WT mice (20 g of body weight) were injected with r-mLect2 (50 μg) and then infected with 1.0 × 10⁴ pfu LCMV. Plaque assay in the liver on 6 days post infection. Data shown are means of 4 biological replicates ± SEM. *p = 0.0462 by two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparison test. Boxplots: centre line, median; box limits, 25 to 75th percentiles; whiskers, min to max. Source data are provided as a Source data file.