Baculovirus Lymantria dispar multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus IAP2 and IAP3 do not suppress apoptosis, but trigger apoptosis of insect cells in a transient expression assay.

Ld652Y cells derived from the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, are permissive for productive infection with L. dispar multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (LdMNPV), but undergo apoptosis upon infection with various other NPVs, including those isolated from Bombyx mori, Hyphantria cunea, Spodoptera exigua, Orgyia pseudotsugata, and Spodoptera litura. In this study, we examined whether LdMNPV-encoded inhibitor of apoptosis 2 (Ld-IAP2) and 3 (Ld-IAP3) are involved in apoptosis suppression in LdMNPV-infected Ld652Y cells.

Identification of a novel apoptosis suppressor gene from the baculovirus Lymantria dispar multicapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus.

Ld652Y cells from Lymantria dispar readily undergo apoptosis upon infection with a variety of nucleopolyhedroviruses (NPVs), while L. dispar multicapsid NPV (LdMNPV) infection of Ld652Y cells results in the production of a high titer of progeny viruses. Here, we identify a novel LdMNPV apoptosis suppressor gene, apsup, which functions to suppress apoptosis induced in Ld652Y cells by infection with vAcΔp35, a p35-defective recombinant Autographa californica MNPV.