An Investigation of Programmed Cell Death Pathways during Murine Cytomegalovirus Infection of BV-2 Microglial Cells with Focus on Parthanatos

Murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) infection has been associated with activation of multiple programmed cell death pathways in experimental models of cytomegalovirus disease, but its relationship to parthanatos-associated signaling in microglial cells remains unclear. This study investigated whether MCMV infection alters expression of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) and poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) in BV-2 murine microglial cells. PARP-1 mRNA expression was measured by RT-qPCR at 1, 2, and 3 days post-infection, and PARP-1 and PAR proteins were examined by Western blot under multiple infection conditions. PARP-1 mRNA remained near baseline, and PARP-1 protein was detected in both mock-infected and infected cells without clear infection-associated upregulation. PAR accumulation was observed only at 3 days post-infection under the low-dose condition. These findings suggest that MCMV does not strongly induce parthanatos-associated signaling in BV-2 cells under the conditions tested, although limited late PAR-associated changes were detected.