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Journal of Virology, December 2001, p. 11437-11448, Vol. 75, No. 23
0022-538X/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JVI.75.23.11437-11448.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Vaccinia Virus Infection Disarms the Mitochondrion-Mediated Pathway of the Apoptotic Cascade by Modulating the Permeability Transition Pore

Shawn T. Wasilenko, Adrienne F. A. Meyers, Kathleen Vander Helm, and Michele Barry*

Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2S2

Received 25 June 2001/Accepted 29 August 2001

Many viruses have evolved strategies that target crucial components within the apoptotic cascade. One of the best studied is the caspase 8 inhibitor, crmA/Spi-2, encoded by members of the poxvirus family. Since many proapoptotic stimuli induce apoptosis through a mitochondrion-dependent, caspase 8-independent pathway, we hypothesized that vaccinia virus would encode a mechanism to directly modulate the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. In support of this, we observed that Jurkat cells, which undergo Fas-mediated apoptosis exclusively through the mitochondrial route, were resistant to Fas-induced death following infection with a crmA/Spi-2-deficient strain of vaccinia virus. In addition, vaccinia virus-infected cells subjected to the proapoptotic stimulus staurosporine exhibited decreased levels of both cytochrome c released from the mitochondria and caspase 3 activation. In all cases we found that the loss of the mitochondrial membrane potential, which occurs as a result of opening the multimeric permeability transition pore complex, was prevented in vaccinia virus-infected cells. Moreover, vaccinia virus infection specifically inhibited opening of the permeability transition pore following treatment with the permeability transition pore ligand atractyloside and t-butylhydroperoxide. These studies indicate that vaccinia virus infection directly impacts the mitochondrial apoptotic cascade by influencing the permeability transition pore.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, 671 Heritage Medical Research Center, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2S2. Phone: (780) 492-0702. Fax: (780) 492-9828. E-mail: michele.barry{at}ualberta.ca.

Journal of Virology, December 2001, p. 11437-11448, Vol. 75, No. 23
0022-538X/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JVI.75.23.11437-11448.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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Copyright © 2001 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.