title: Viral inhibition of BAK promotes murine cytomegalovirus dissemination to salivary glands.
abstract: Apoptosis induction is an important host defense mechanism to control viral infection, which is antagonized by viral proteins. Murine cytomegalovirus m41.1 encodes a viral inhibitor of BAK oligomerization (vIBO) that blocks the mitochondrial apoptosis mediator BAK. However, its importance for viral fitness in vivo has not been investigated. Here, we show that an m41.1-deficient virus attains reduced titers in salivary glands of wild-type but not Bak1(-/-) mice, indicating a requirement of BAK inhibition for optimal dissemination in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Heinrich Pette Institute, Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Wiebke
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Handke
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Luig
authors.forename: Branka
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Popovic
authors.forename: Astrid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Krmpotic
authors.forename: Stipan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jonjic
authors.forename: Wolfram
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Brune
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D018146:Muromegalovirus / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000821:virology*; D050998:bcl-2 Homologous Antagonist-Killer Protein / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000172:deficiency
chemical_list: C494773:Bak1 protein, mouse; D050998:bcl-2 Homologous Antagonist-Killer Protein