Heinrich Pette Institute, Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology, Hamburg, Germany.
J Virol. 2013 Mar;87(6):3592-6. doi: 10.1128/JVI.02657-12. Epub 2013 Jan 9.
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.
细胞凋亡诱导是一种重要的宿主防御机制,可用于控制病毒感染,但会受到病毒蛋白的拮抗。鼠巨细胞病毒 m41.1 编码一种 BAK 寡聚化的病毒抑制剂(vIBO),可阻断线粒体凋亡介体 BAK。然而,其在体内对病毒适应性的重要性尚未得到研究。本研究表明,m41.1 缺失病毒在野生型小鼠的唾液腺中滴度降低,但在 Bak1(-/-) 小鼠中没有降低,表明 BAK 抑制是病毒在体内最佳传播所必需的。