Reversion by hypotonic medium of the shutoff of protein synthesis induced by encephalomyocarditis virus

Infection of human HeLa cells by picornaviruses produces a drastic inhibition of host protein synthesis. Treatment of encephalomyocarditis virus-infected HeLa cells with hypotonic medium reversed this inhibition; no viral protein synthesis was detected. The blockade of viral translation by hypotonic conditions was observed for a wide range of multiplicities of infection. However, only with low virus-to-cell ratios did cellular protein synthesis resume. The ratio of cellular to viral mRNA translation was strongly influenced by the concentration of monovalent ions present in the culture medium: a high concentration of NaCl or KCl favored the translation of viral mRNA and strongly inhibited cellular protein synthesis, whereas the opposite was true when NaCl was omitted from the culture medium. Once viral protein synthesis had been blocked by hypotonic medium treatment, it resumed when the infected cells were placed in a normal or hypertonic medium, indicating that the viral components synthesized in the infected cells were not destroyed by this treatment. These observations reinforced the idea that ions play a role in discriminating between viral and cellular mRNA translation in virus-infected animal cells.