Objective: To identify genes in human cells infected with high pathogenic avian influenza viruses H5N1.
Methods: The lung carcinoma cells line A549 was infected with H5N1 and H1N1, respectively. We harvested the infected cells at the different time points after infection and screened the genes with differential expression via microarray technology. The candidate genes were selected and confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR.
Results: The spectrum of genes with the differential expression in the cells infected with H5N1 was obtained and 16 candidate genes were identified in the cellular apoptosis pathway, mTOR pathway, and the cellular immunity as well.
Conclusions: Our results suggest that H5N1 exert a stronger impact on eliciting apoptosis of infected cells than the common influenza virus H1N1.