Polyploidization on SK-N-MC human neuroblastoma cells infected with herpes simplex virus 1

Polyploidization is one of the most dramatic changes occurring within cell genome owing to various reasons including under many viral infections. We examined the impact of herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) on SK-N-MC human neuroblastoma cell line. The infected cells were followed from 6 hours up to 96 hours post infection (hpi). A large number of polyploid cells with giant nuclei was observed under the influence of HSV-1 at 24 hpi with the DNA content of 32c to 64c or more, in comparison with control SK-N-MC cells that were characterized by relatively moderate values of ploidy, i.e. 8с to 16с (where 1c is the haploid amount of nuclear DNA found in normal diploid populations in G0/G1). After 48-96 hpi, the population of polyploid cells with giant nuclei decreased to the benchmark level. The SK-NMC cells infected with HSV-1 for 24 hours were stained with gallocyanine and monitored for cytological features. The infected cells underwent virus induced cellcell and nuclei fusion with the formation of dense nuclei syncytium. The metabolic activity of HSV-1 infected cells was higher in both nuclei and nucleoli when compared to control cells.