Changes in the virus-host cell relationship in a stable non-virogenic cell line persistently infected with measles...

A non-virogenic African green monkey kidney cell line BGM/MV persistently infected with a neurotropic mouse brain-adapted strain of measles virus, was found to have undergone significant changes in the virus-host cell relationship between passages 35 and 119. Rather than the stable non-cytopathic relationship previously reported in which approximately 100% of the cells contained measles antigens and less than 1% of the cells expressed cell surface measles antigen, we observed cyclic manifestations of c.p.e. together with changes in the percentage of cells expressing intracellular and cell surface measles antigens. Treatment of BGM/MV cells with actinomycin D effected an increase in the percentage of cells expressing cell surface virus haemagglutinin (HA) at times when the percentage of cells with surface HA was less than the percentage of cells with intracellular measles antigens. Superinfection studies employing measles virus and vesicular stomatitis virus revealed a consonant cyclic refractivity and essentially no refractivity, respectively. Endogenous, infectious measles virus was not detected nor was interferon. It was concluded that a host cell factor other than interferon was modulating the cyclic expression of the measles virus infection.