FIG. 8.

Inhibition of p38 MAPK activity alleviates JEV-induced apoptosis. (A) SB (5 μM) inhibited JEV-induced p38 activation. The specific p38 inhibitor SB and its ineffective analog, SBa, were added to the medium of JEV-infected N18 cells after adsorption. Activity of p38 MAPK was measured as described in the legend to Fig. 6. The resulting data are the means of three independent experiments with standard errors. The asterisks indicate significant differences between the mock- and the JEV-infected cells by Student's t test (P < 0.05). (B) Flow cytometry analysis of JEV-induced apoptosis by annexin-V staining in infected (MOI = 5) N18 cells treated with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), SB, or SBa 24 h postinfection. (C) Effects of p38 inhibitor on JEV production in N18 cells. The virus titers from the culture supernatants of JEV-infected N18 cells treated with 10 μM SB or SBa or left untreated were determined by plaque-forming assays. The error bars indicate standard errors.