Analysis of host- and strain-dependent cell death responses during infectious salmon anemia virus infection in vitro

• Published in: Virology Journal
• Main Authors: Mjaaland Siri, Poulsen Lene C, Bækkevold Espen S, Schiøtz Berit L, Gjøen Tor
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2009
• Subjects: Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Atlantic salmon
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-422X-6-91; https://doaj.org/article/58490705fda34bb79373c18c6e1f897c

Abstract Background Infectious salmon anemia virus (ISAV) is an aquatic orthomyxovirus and the causative agent of infectious salmon anemia (ISA), a disease of great importance in the Atlantic salmon farming industry. In vitro , ISAV infection causes cytophatic effect (CPE) in cell lines from Atlantic salmon, leading to rounding and finally detachment of the cells from the substratum. In this study, we investigated the mode of cell death during in vitro ISAV infection in different Atlantic salmon cell lines, using four ISAV strains causing different mortality in vivo . Results The results show that caspase 3/7 activity increased during the course of infection in ASK and SHK-1 cells, infected cells showed increased surface expression of phosphatidylserine and increased PI uptake, compared to mock infected cells; and morphological alterations of the mitochondria were observed. Expression analysis of immune relevant genes revealed no correlation between in vivo mortality and expression, but good correlation in expression of interferon genes. Conclusion Results from this study indicate that there is both strain and cell type dependent differences in the virus-host interaction during ISAV infection. This is important to bear in mind when extrapolating in vitro findings to the in vivo situation.