Author
Neill, John | |
Ridpath, Julia |
Submitted to: Research Workers in Animal Diseases Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 11/11/2001 Publication Date: 11/11/2001 Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Bovine viral diarrhea virus type 2 (BVDV2) strain 1373 is a hypervirulent strain of BVDV2 that causes high fever, thrombocytopenia, and lymphopenia with accompanying lymphoid depletion and immune suppression. The exact mechanism(s) by which these pathologies are brought about is unknown. To investigate the virus/host interactions associated with these disease syndromes, we used serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) to identify and quantitate mRNA transcripts in noninfected and BVDV2-1373-infected MDBK cells. SAGE revealed that most identified cellular structural genes were expressed at equal or near equal levels in both control and infected MDBK cells. A stark exception to this was the transcription of genes encoding the tubulin family of proteins. Most tubulin genes showed a decrease in transcription with two genes showing substantial 7 to 11 fold decreases. Microtubules play major roles in a number of physiological processes. Disruption or inhibition of microtubule formation in megakaryocytes and phagocytes may result in thrombocytopenia and immunosuppression, respectively, due to loss of ability to function properly. |