Detection of Caspase Activities in Cultured Fish Cells Infected with Viral Deformity Virus

Abstract

To know whether caspases are involved in virus-induced apoptosis in fish cells, CHSE-214 cells were infected with viral deformity virus (VDV), which is a member of Birnaviridae. Some of the infected cells exhibited morphological features that are typical of apoptosis, although the ratio of these cells was less than 10% throughout the experiment. Caspase activities, especially that of caspase 6, were detected in infected cells, but not in uninfected cells. Activity for caspases 3 or 7 peaked later than those for the other caspases. These observations suggest the involvement of caspase cascade in virus-induced apoptosis in fish cells and functional differentiation among caspases.