Characterization of altered BHK cells resistant to HVJ (Sendai virus) infection

An altered baby hamster kidney cell culture which resists the c.p.e. of HVJ (haemagglutinating virus of Japan - the Sendai strain of parainfluenza I virus) has been obtained and characterized. These cells, designated BHK-R, were originally obtained by prolonged cultivation of cells surviving HVJ infection; they have been subcultured in the presence of HVJ. No infectious virus was recovered from BHK-R cells and no evidence for the presence of HVJ antigens in the cells was demonstrated by immunofluorescent staining. When BHK-R cells were inoculated with HVJ the growth of challenge virus was suppressed and no obvious cytopathic changes were detected, while these cells normally supported the replication of mumps, influenza, Newcastle disease, vesicular stomatitis or Sindbis viruses. BHK-R cells became susceptible to HVJ infection after serial subculture in growth medium free of HVJ. It was suggested that sialic acid residues present in the surface of BHK-R cell membranes and responsible for adsorption of HVJ were split off by the action of neuraminidase of virus particles, resulting in inhibition of the attachment of challenge virus of HVJ.