Differential onset of apoptosis in influenza A virus H5N1- and H1N1-infected human blood macrophages Mok, Chris K. P. and Lee, Davy C. W. and Cheung, Chung-Yan and Peiris, Malik and Lau, Allan S. Y.,, 88, 1275-1280 (2007), doi = https://doi.org/10.1099/vir.0.82423-0, publicationName = Microbiology Society, issn = 0022-1317, abstract= Pathogenesis of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus A/Hong Kong/483/97 (H5N1/97) remains to be investigated. It was demonstrated recently that H5N1 dysregulation of proinflammatory cytokines in human macrophages is a p38-kinase-dependent process. The results indicated that macrophages may play a role in disease severity. To investigate cellular responses to H5N1 infection further, apoptosis and its related pathways were studied in primary blood macrophages. Here, it is shown that the H5N1/97 virus triggered apoptosis, including caspases and PARP activation, in infected macrophages with a delayed onset compared with H1N1 counterparts. Similar results were also found in human macrophages infected by precursors of the H5N1/97 virus. Thus, these results showed that the delay in apoptosis onset in macrophages infected by H5N1/97 and its related precursor subtypes may be a means for the pathogens to have longer survival in the cells; this may contribute to the pathogenesis of H5N1 disease in humans., language=, type=