Infection of human and rhesus lymphoblastoid cells with Herpesvirus macaca

The interaction between Herpesvirus macaca and lymphoblastoid cells grown in continuous culture, or purified from rhesus blood, was studied as a model for latent or chronic herpesvirus infection of leukocytes. Continuous lymphoblastoid cell lines infected in vitro were PA3, a human cell line with bone-marrow derived (B)-lymphocyte characteristics; LM/DM, a rhesus cell line with B-lymphocyte characteristics; and MOLT-4, a human cell line with thymus-derived (T)-lymphocyte characteristics. A distinct pattern of interaction was found for each lymphoblastoid cell line. A small but stable fraction of cells continued to express virus-specific antigens for more than three weeks following infection of the B-type lymphoblastoid cell lines of rhesus and human origin. Herpesvirus macaca replicated only in PA3 cells. Viral replication did not occur and viral antigens were not detected in either peripheral lymphocytes or MOLT-4 cells. The observations suggest that Herpesvirus macaca interacts in distinct patterns with different lymphoid cell lines in vitro, and that within a given culture, subpopulations of lymphoid cells are present at a given time which respond to the virus differently.