AN AFRICAN SWINE FEVER VIRUS BCL-2 HOMOLOG, 5-HL, SUPPRESSES APOPTOTIC CELL-DEATH

Here, we show that the African swine fever virus 5-HL gene is a highly conserved, viral gene and contains all known protein domains associat ed with Bcl-2 activity, including those involved with dimerization, me diating cell death, and protein-binding functions, and that its protei n product, p21, suppresses apoptotic cell death in the mammalian lymph oid cell line FL5.12. Thus, 5-HL is a true functional viral member of the Bcl-2 gene family.