Fig. 4: Mechanical signaling induces multiple downstream antiviral effectors.

a GSEA enrichment plot of GSE65359 comparing IA and IT states. b PMH were cultured on low stiffness (0.4 kPa) or high stiffness (13.8 kPa) substrates for 2 days, followed by RNA extraction and RNA-seq analysis. Venn diagram illustrates common upregulated genes between PMH and the GSE65359 dataset (IA vs. IT). c mRNA expression levels of the 67 common upregulated genes identified in (b) within the GSE65359 dataset. d, e Among the 67 genes, 11 exhibit antiviral effects: levels of HBsAg and HBeAg detected by ELISA in two HBV replication models (pHBV1.3; HBVcircle) (three biological replicates). f In the HBVcircle model, intracellular HBV RNAs were quantified using Northern blot. g In the HBVcircle model, HBV Hirt DNA was extracted and subjected to HBVcircle quantification via qPCR. Relative HBVcircle levels are presented as fold changes compared to the pcDNA3.1 control. Total RNA was extracted and subjected to HBV pgRNA qPCR, with relative pgRNA levels presented as fold changes compared to the pcDNA3.1 control. The relative levels of HBVcircle-based transcription were further determined by normalizing pgRNA levels to HBVcircle levels in each treatment group compared to the pcDNA3.1 control group (three biological replicates). The data are represented as mean ± SD. P value by Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (a) and two-tailed Student’s t-test (d–e, g). Source data are provided as a Source Data file. (*P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001).