Concomitantly with the fast reduction in senescence (Figure 5), after only one week post-infection, endothelial pro-apoptotic Bax expression was significantly increased (p=0.005), while that of the anti-apoptotic Bcl2 was significantly decreased (p=0.003), increasing the Bax/Bcl2 ratio (Figure 7A), suggesting that angptl2+ senescent EC were eliminated, at least partly, following activation of this apoptotic pathway. This evidence concerns the gene BAX and infection.