Gene expression profiling in PC12 cells infected with an oncolytic Newcastle disease virus strain

•MTH-68/H is a mesogenic Newcastle disease virus (NDV) strain with oncolytic potential.•This study was aimed at identifying genes affected by NDV infection in PC12 cells.•Hundreds of genes were up- or down-regulated by MTH-68/H infection.•Many of the affected genes are implicated in key antiviral and cytotoxic mechanisms.•Several of these genes may serve as virus susceptibility markers.

Although the oncolytic potential of natural, non-engineered Newcastle disease virus (NDV) isolates are well-known, cellular mechanisms determining NDV sensitivity of tumor cells are poorly understood. The aim of the present study was to look for gene expression changes in PC12 pheochromocytoma cells infected with an attenuated NDV strain that may be related to NDV susceptibility. PC12 cells were infected with the NDV strain MTH-68/H for 12 h at a titer corresponding to the IC50 value. Total cytoplasmic RNA samples isolated from control and MTH-68/H-infected cells were analyzed using a rat specific Affymetrix exon chip. Genes with at least 2-fold increase or decrease in their expression were identified. MTH-68/H-induced gene expression changes of 9 genes were validated using quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR. A total of 729 genes were up- and 612 genes were down-regulated in PC12 cells infected with MTH-68/H. Using the DAVID functional annotation clustering tool, the up- and down-regulated genes can be categorized into 176 and 146 overlapping functional gene clusters, respectively. Gene expression changes affecting the most important signaling mechanisms (Toll-like receptor signaling, RIG-I-like receptor signaling, interferon signaling, interferon effector pathways, apoptosis pathways, endoplasmic reticulum stress pathways, cell cycle regulation) are analyzed and discussed in detail in this paper. NDV-induced gene expression changes described in this paper affect several regulatory mechanisms and dozens of putative key proteins that may determine the NDV susceptibility of various tumors. Further characterization of these proteins may identify susceptibility markers to predict the chances of virotherapeutic treatment of human tumors.