Fig. 2: Transcription profile across the VLT and ORF63 loci in latently VZV-infected human trigeminal ganglia.
a Detection of VLT, canonical RNA 63-1 and VLT63 isoforms by RT-qPCR analysis in latently VZV-infected human trigeminal ganglia (TG) (n = 4; post-mortem interval 4–4.5 h). Data on individual TG samples are shown as unique symbols. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. b Detection of VZV RNA 63 and VLT RNA by multiplex fluorescent in situ hybridization (ISH) on human TG (upper two panels) and human herpes zoster skin biopsy (bottom panel). Representative images are shown for n = 7 human TG and n = 2 zoster skin biopsies. Asterisks indicate autofluorescent lipofuscin granules in neurons. Scale bar: 10 µm. Arrowheads indicate RNA 63 (red) and/or VLT (green) ISH signal. Right panels: enlargements of area indicated by white box. c Putative transcription start sites (TSS) of VLT (row 1), VLT63 (row 2) in human TGs and VLT in latently VZV-infected human iPSC-derived sensory neurons (HSN) (row 3), as determined by 5′-RACE analysis. Schematic top shows major latent VLT and VLT-ORF63 transcript isoforms and location of primers used for 5′-RACE analysis. Bottom: VLT sequence of VLT exon 1, as previously determined by RNA-seq on human TGs7. Flanking regions are shown with arrows indicating putative TSS by 5′-RACE analysis.
