Schmallenberg virus induces apoptosis in Vero cell line via extrinsic and intrinsic pathways in a time and dose dependent manner

AKSOY, Emel/0000-0001-9536-4322 WOS: 000459994300010 PubMed: 30541984 Schmallenberg virus (SBV), discovered in 2011 in Germany, is associated with clinical manifestations of fever, diarrhea, reduced milk yield, abortions and congenital malformations in ruminants. Despite many studies performed for SBV, there is no detailed research on in vitro apoptotic effect of SBV. This study is aimed to determine apoptosis pathways and role of proapoptotic and anti-apoptotic molecules in Vero cells infected with SBV. The study results showed that SBV induced apoptosis via both extrinsic and intrinsic pathways by activating both caspase-8 and caspase-9, respectively. Expression analyses of pro-apoptotic (Bax, Bak and Puma) and anti-apoptotic (Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL) genes revealed that SBV-induced apoptosis causes upregulation of pro-apoptotic genes, dominantly via Puma gene, whereas Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL genes were downregulated. In conclusion, this is the first detailed report about SBV induced apoptosis in the Vero cells via both extrinsic and intrinsic cascades and apoptosis induction is seem to be regulated by Puma. Scientific Research Project Coordination Unit (BAP) of Kirikkale University [KU-BAP 2015/052] This work was supported by the Scientific Research Project Coordination Unit (BAP) of Kirikkale University [grant number KU-BAP 2015/052] and includes part of PhD dissertation of Emel AKSOY. The authors would also like to thank Prof. Dr. Latif OZTURK (Kirikkale University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Econometrics, Kirikkale, Turkey) for his advice and help in statistical analysis.