Modulation of Apoptosis by Bovine Gammaherpesvirus 4 Infection in Bovine Endometrial Cells and the Possible Role of LPS in This Process

Abstract

The prevalent pathogens associated with bovine uterine infections are bacteria that appearto increase the host’s susceptibility to secondary infections with other bacteria or viruses, amongwhich BoGHV4 is the most frequently found. In this work, the study of the pathways of apoptosisinduction was carried out on an experimental model of primary culture of endometrial cells, in orderto know the implication of BoGHV4 and the presence of bacterial LPS in the pathogenesis of thebovine reproductive tract. For this, different staining techniques and molecular analysis by RT-PCRwere used. The results obtained allowed us to conclude that the level of cell death observed in theproposed primary culture is directly related to the time of viral infection and the presence of LPS inBoGHV4 infection. The apoptosis indices in cells infected with BoGHV4 and BoGHV4 + LPS revealeda maximum that correlated with the appearance of cytopathic effects and the maximum viral titersin the model studied. However, morphological, biochemical, and molecular changes were evidentduring both early and late stages of apoptosis. These findings provide information on the factors thatmay influence the pathogenesis of BoGHV4 and help to better understand the mechanisms involvedin virus infection.