Apoptosis inversely correlates with rabies virus neurotropism.

Maria-Isabel Thoulouze (1, 2) , Mireille Lafage (1) , Victor J Yuste (3) , Guido Kroemer (4, 5) , Santos A Susin (3) , Nicole Israël (6) , Monique Lafon (1)

1 Neuro-Immunologie Virale
2 BIC - Biologie des Interactions Cellulaires
3 ASI - Apoptose et Système Immunitaire
4 Génétique oncologique [Villejuif]
5 IGR - Institut Gustave Roussy
6 Biologie des Rétrovirus

We report that non-neurotropic rabies virus (RV) strains, currently used to immunize wildlife against rabies, induces not only a caspase-dependent apoptosis in the human lymphoblastoid Jurkat T cell line (Jurkat-vect), but also a caspase-independent pathway. Cell redistribution of the apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) was observed in Jurkat-vect infected with RV vaccine strain. Bcl-2 overproduction in Jurkat T cells (Jurkat-Bcl-2) abolished both caspase activation and AIF distribution. In contrast, strain of neurotropic RV did not induce apoptosis. The inverse correlation of the induction of apoptosis and the capacity of a virus strain to invade the brain suggests that blockage of apoptosis could be a strategy selected by neurotropic virus to favor its progression through the nervous system.

Domains: Molecular biology

Maria-Isabel Thoulouze, Mireille Lafage, Victor J Yuste, Guido Kroemer, Santos A Susin, et al.. Apoptosis inversely correlates with rabies virus neurotropism.. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2003, 1010, pp.598-603. ⟨10.1196/annals.1299.112⟩. ⟨pasteur-00193959⟩