Fig. 1

Inhibition of KSHV viral gene expression with the FIT-039. A Chemical structure of the FIT-039. B-D RT-PCR results are indicated for the KSHV viral gene expression in the PEL cells. Latent phase and lytic phase with or without 10 µM FIT-039 treatment for 48 h are analyzed for KSHV.⁺ BCBL-1 and BC-3 cells, and representative data are shown in (B) and quantitative data for three replicates are shown in (C) for BCBL-1 and in (D) for BC-3. Data were analyzed for three replicates and original gel images are shown in supplementary Fig. S1 and S2. ACTB served as a loading control. E–H RT-PCR results are indicated for KSHV latent gene LANA and ACTB as a loading control. Representative data and quantification were indicated for BCBL-1 (E, F), and BC-3 (G, H). Data were analyzed for three replicates and original gel images are shown in supplementary Fig. S3. I Western blot of lytic gene products and anti-apoptotic proteins, Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, and c-Myc, in the BC-3 cells with lytic induction for 48 h with 0, 5, and 10 µM FIT-039 treatment, as well as latent cells treated with the 0.1% DMSO for 48 h. Data from one experiment was shown. Full gel images are shown in supplementary Fig. S3. J-K Representative immunocytostaining images (J) and quantification for the relative fluorescent intensity (RFI) of RTA (K) in the BCBL-1 cells lytically induced for 48 h with or without the FIT-039 treatment (10 µM) for 48 h (n = 34 for 0 μM and n = 45 for 10 μM). Box and whisker plot with 5–95 percentile are indicated in (K). L-M Cell viability was determined with trypan blue test, counting trypan blue-negative cell population (TB-), for BCBL-1 (L) and BC-3 (M) with or without FIT-039 treatment at 10 µM for 96 h. Data from four replicates were plotted. *, p < 0.05; **, p < 0.01; ***, p < 0.001 by one-way ANOVA with Turkey’s multi-comparison test in (C) and (D). *, p < 0.05; ***, p < 0.001; n.s., p ≥ 0.05 by two-tailed Student’s t-test in (F), (H), (K), (L), and (M)