title: Duck tembusu virus and its envelope protein induce programmed cell death.
abstract: The cytopathic effect produced in cells infected with duck tembusu virus (DTMUV) suggests that this emerging virus may induce apoptosis in primary cultures of duck embryo fibroblasts (DEF). Here, we present evidence that DTMUV infection of cultured cells activates apoptosis and that the ability of DTMUV to induce apoptosis is not restricted to cell type because DTMUV-induced apoptosis in duck and mammalian host cells. We further investigated which viral components induce apoptosis in DTMUV-infected host cells. The major envelope glycoprotein (E) was investigated for its apoptotic activities in expressed cells. Transient expression of the E protein alone triggered apoptosis in DEF, Vero, and BHK cells. Expression of the E protein resulted in activation of caspase-3-like proteases in cultured cells. These results indicate that infection of cells with DTMUV or expression of DTMUV E protein alone induces apoptosis, providing the basis for future to define the molecules that play key roles in the fate of DTMUV-infected cells.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, 150001, China.
authors.forename: Wulin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shaozhou
authors.forename: Chenxi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Qingshan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Runzhe
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Youlan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Hongyu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xiaofei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: Yuhuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Siguo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004372:Ducks; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000502:physiology / Q000821:virology*; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000502:physiology / Q000821:virology*; D005416:Flavivirus / Q000502:physiology*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D008322:Mammals; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; D053148:Caspase 3