Fig. 6

siRNAs of respiratory chain complex genes induced apoptosis of HIV-infected MDMs. A The apoptosis of HIV-HSA-infected MDMs after transfection with siRNA of respiratory complex I-V genes. Primary MDMs (7 days old) were infected with HIV-HSA virus followed by transfection with siRNAs of respiratory chain complex I-V genes for 72 h. The apoptosis of mock- and HIV-infected cells treated with siRNA was analyzed by flow cytometry. The fold changes of apoptosis in HIV-infected cells were calculated by normalization with mock infection (HIV-infected/mock-infected), and then compared with that of non-targeting siRNA. B Western blotting of siRNAs showing silencing of respiratory complex I-V genes. Seven-day-old MDMs were transfected with siRNAs specific for respiratory gene complexes I-V (CI-CV) for 72 h. Cell lysates were subjected to Western blot analysis by probing with corresponding antibodies specific for respiratory gene complexes I-V. The full-length blots for silencing the complex I-V genes are shown in Supplementary Fig. 8 ~ 12A, B, and C. C ROS production after HIV-HSA infection for 9 days (n = 4). D ROS production induced by siRNA silencing of Sdha (complex II) and Cox7a2 (complex IV) (n = 8). Seven-day-old primary MDMs were treated with siRNA for 2 days. MDMs were harvested and stained with CellROX red followed by flow cytometry analysis at APC channel. The p-values were calculated using student’s t-test (n = 8)