Possible involvement of double-stranded RNA-activated protein kinase in cell death by influenza virus infection

We reported previously that influenza virus infection induces the apoptotic death of HeLa cells associated with activation of the Fas gene. In this report, we show that transfection with a PKR having a point mutation in the catalytic domain of K at 296 to R suppressed both the augmented expression of Fas and cell death by influenza virus infection. These results suggested the involvement of PKR in influenza virus-induced cell death.