Sodium tanshinone IIA sulfonate affects Marek's disease virus replication by inhibiting gB expression.

ABSTRACT

CONTEXT Previous studies demonstrated that sodium tanshinone IIA sulfonate (STS) could inhibit MDV replication in vitro. The mechanism about how STS inhibits MDV replication is still not well understood. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we evaluated the effect of STS on gB gene/protein of Marek's disease virus (MDV). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The concentration of 0.25 mg/ml of STS was used in this study. Meanwhile, 0.25 mg/ml of acyclovir (ACV) was used as a positive control. About 9-11-d-old embryonated specific-pathogen-free (SPF) chicken eggs were used to prepare CEF cells. CEF cells were infected with MDV 2 h, followed by treatment with STS. Real-time PCR and western blot assay were used to measure the gB (UL27) gene/protein expression in STS treatment group at 24, 48, 72, and 96 h post-infection. RESULTS: Compared with MDV control, the gB gene copies were significantly decreased in STS and ACV treatment groups at 72 h and 96 h (p < 0.05), both in the DNA and in the mRNA level. Furthermore, the expression of gB protein was also inhibited by STS at 24, 72, and 96 h. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated that STS could effectively inhibit the MDV replication by suppressing gB gene/protein expression in cell culture.