TLR7 and infection: Figure 5B shows that infection with rAAV.shTLR7 dose- and time-dependently inhibited tlr7 expression in primary RPE cells at a viral load of 2 or 5×1010 vg/mL at 24 or 48 hours in vitro. To assess the ability of rAAV.shTLR7 to downregulate TLR7 levels, RPE cells were isolated from tEAU mice that received rAAV.shTLR7, and TLR7 expression was compared with that in rAAV.sc-treated tEAU animals. The mice treated with rAAV.shTLR7 showed lower tlr7 gene expression in the RPE layers than rAAV.sc-treated mice (Figure 5C).