The University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine

Georgia Veterinary Scholar Program

Georgia Veterinary Scholar	Faculty Mentor

Chris Faggioni University of Georgia Class of 2006	Dr. Zhen Fu

Induction of apoptosis by pathogenic and attenuated rabies viruses in mice

Rabies virus is one of the oldest known diseases to occur in humans dating back to early Mesopotamia . Despite its long history, very little is known about the pathogenesis of rabies in animals. In rabies victims, pathological changes are mild with very little neuronal destruction. However, recent studies indicate that rabies virus can induce apoptosis in experimental animals. To investigate the relationship between rabies virus infection and the induction of apoptosis, we infected mice with pathogenic or attenuated rabies virus by the intracerebral and intramuscular routes and studied the induction of apoptosis in the nervous tissue. In the intracerebrally infected mice, apoptosis is detected only in mice infected with the attenuated virus, but not in the pathogenic rabies virus. Comparing the attenuated strain and pathogenic strain in IM infected mice, only mice infected with the attenuated virus show induction of apoptosis and this induction of apoptosis is detected exclusively in the spinal cord. These studies indicate that the attenuated, but not the pathogenic, rabies virus induces apoptosis, suggesting that attenuated rabies virus, by inducing apoptosis, prevents the spread of the attenuated rabies virus.