Fig. 2

FANA-R8-9 aptamer inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infection in HAE cultures. ​​A Cartoon schematic of the experimental workflow used to obtain the data in panel B. Created with BioRender.com. Hours post-infection = hpi. B The percent viral antigen positive area, quantified following en face immunofluorescence staining and imaging in HAE cultures infected with WT SARS-CoV-2 or Delta variant in the presence or absence of FANA-R8-9 aptamer. Individual biological replicates across two experiments (n = 3 per donor; 2 donors) are shown with the bar representing the mean +/- SEM. Experimental results were analyzed by the Mann–Whitney test between indicated conditions. All data are significant where indicated (*p < 0.05; **p < 0.005). C The percent viral antigen positive area determined as in panel B for cultures that were first inoculated with the Delta variant, then subsequently treated with vehicle or FANA-R8-9 aptamer immediately following virus inoculation (0), or 2, or 6 hpi. FANA-R8-9 aptamer was added to the indicated cultures again at 24 and 48 hpi prior to fixation at 72 hpi and analysis by en face immunostaining and fluorescence microscopy as in A and B. Individual biological replicates for one experiment (n = 4 per donor; 4–5 donors per condition) are shown with the bar representing the mean ± SEM. Experimental results were analyzed using ordinary one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) between indicated conditions. Data are non-significant (NS) or significant where indicated (****p < 0.0001). D Representative photomicrographs of HAE cultures analyzed in panel B. HAE were fixed at 72 hpi and immunoprobed en face for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 nucleoprotein (green) after apical inoculation with vehicle (mock) or SARS-CoV-2 (WT or Delta variant) in the presence (100 nM) or absence (–) of FANA-R8-9 aptamer. Scale bar = 100 μm.