Induction of Rabies Virus Infection in Mice Brain may Up and Down Regulate Type II Interferon gamma via epigenetic modifications

As feared and deadly human diseases globally, Rabies virus contrived mechanisms to escape early immune recognition via suppression of the interferon response. This study, preliminarily investigated whether Rabies virus employs epigenetic mechanism for the suppression of the interferon using the Challenge virus standard (CVS) strain and Nigerian street Rabies virus (SRV) strain. Mice were challenged with Rabies virus (RABV) infection, and presence of RABV antigen was assessed by direct fluorescent antibody test (DFAT). A real time quantitative Polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to measure the expression of type II interferon gamma ( IFNG) and methylation specific quantitative PCR for methylation analysis of 1FNG promoter region. Accordingly, DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) and histone acetyltransferase (HAT) enzymes activities were determined. RABV antigen was detected in all infected samples. A statistically significant increase ( p