Baculoviruses and apoptosis: the good, the bad, and the ugly

Since 1991, when a baculovirus was first shown to inhibit apoptosis of its host insect cells, considerable contributions to our knowledge of apoptosis have arisen from the study of these viruses and the anti-apoptotic genes t hey encode, Baculovirus anti-apoptotic genes include p35, which encodes the most broadly acting caspase inhibitor protein known, and lap (inhibitor of apoptosis) genes, which were the first members of an evolutionarily conser ved gene family involved in regulation of apoptosis and cytokinesis in orga nisms ranging from yeast to humans, Baculoviruses also provide an ideal sys tem to study the effects of an apoptotic response on viral pathogenesis in an animal host. In this review, I discuss a number of interesting recent de velopments in the areas of apoptotic regulation by baculoviruses and the ef fects of apoptosis on baculovirus replication and pathogenesis.