Mechanism of neuronal cell death in the developing mouse brain after intrauterine infection with cytomegalovirus

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Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most common cause of congenital infection, resulting in birth defects such as microcephaly. In this study, we found that apoptosis is induced in the developing mouse brain infected with murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) in an association with neuronal cell loss. With the combination of the terminaldeoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick edn labeling (TUNEL) technique and immunohistochemical staining. A few percent TUNEL-positive cells were double-labeled with neuronal glial markers, while more than 30% of microglial cells were turned into apoptosis, presumably the consequence of engulfment of the neuronal apoptotic cells. In the primary neuronal cultures, MCMV infection inhibited the induction of apoptosis either by serum deprivation or glutamate treatment. The induction and blocking of neuronal apoptosis by virus infection may be important for morphological and functional disorders in the congenital CMV infection.