Accelerated Cytopathology in HeLa Cells Induced by Reovirus and Cycloheximide

The addition of the protein inhibitor cycloheximide, at concentrations which suppress virus replication, to HeLa cell monolayers infected with reovirus type 2 results in the appearance of accelerated cytopathic effects (CPE). At high multiplicity of infection, CPE appeared after a lag period of 2 to 3 hr and increased progressively, until by 12 hr the entire monolayer had rounded and sloughed off. During this same period, both the uninfected cycloheximide-treated and untreated virus-infected controls exhibited no CPE. The phenomenon is affected by the kind of cell species employed and can be reversed if the antibiotic is removed within 1 hr after exposure. The evidence obtained through studies in which specific metabolic inhibitors and direct biochemical analyses were used suggests that the accelerated CPE observed in cycloheximide-treated reovirus-infected cells is the consequence of the combined inhibition of the synthesis of both cellular protein and ribonucleic acid. The accelerated CPE is also induced in the antibiotic-treated cells by reovirus serotypes 1 and 3.