[Poliovirus susceptibility in cultured cells--an answer to Enders]

Poliovirus is the causative agent of poliomyelitis. It replicates efficiently in the neurons in the central nervous system and produces severe pathological lesions. It cannot replicate well in the non-neural tissues. In spite of this strict neurotropism in vivo, however, it can replicate in cells of monolayer cultures derived from almost any tissues of primates as Enders and colleagues initially shown. It was supposed that cellular changes during the process of cultivation were required for acquisition of susceptibility. This question remained unsolved for a long time. We have recently shown that cells in culture acquire poliovirus susceptibility by loosing rapid and robust interferon response that has been normally maintained in tissues in vivo.