Fig. 2. VP8 disturbs the gate function of the tight junction (TJ) as determined by the paracellular passage of non-ionic tracers. MDCK cells were plated at confluency on Transwells and grown for 3 days. Paracellular flux of 4 kDa FITC-Dextran (FD4), and 70 kDa FITC-Dextran (FD70) was measured in the apical to basolateral direction. The amount of tracer diffusion was normalized to control MDCK cells. The data of six monolayers are reported as the mean±s.e.m. Open columns=control monolayers, closed columns=monolayers treated for 1 hour with 4 µg/ml GST-VP8, broken columns=monolayers treated for 1 hour with 4 µg/ml GST-VP5. Statistical significance was determined using the ANOVA test. *P<0.05; **P<0.001; ***P<0.0001.