Sodium and potassium transport in herpes simplex virus-infected cells

Sodium (Na+) and potassium (K+) flux in African green monkey kidney cells (Vero) was examined following infection by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). A decline in the rate of K+ uptake at 5 h post-infection was shown using 86Rb+ as a K+ tracer. In contrast, host protein synthesis was inhibited by 3 h post-infection. The decrease in rate of K+ transport to levels 70 to 90% of that of mock-infected cells did not, however, reflect an inability of HSV-1-infected cells to maintain normal intracellular concentrations of Na+ and K+. At 7 h post-infection, intracellular Na+ and K+ concentrations were determined to be 26.6 +/- 9.4 mM- and 33.3 +/- 10.3 mM-Na+ and 130.1 +/- 4.7 mM- and 137.1 +/- 3.2 mM-K+ in mock-infected and HSV-1-infected cells respectively. Intracellular Na+ did not increase above control levels over at least a 9 h period following HSV-1 infection. The Michaelis constant (Km) of K+ transport in HSV-1-infected or mock-infected Vero cells at 6 h post-infection was determined to be the same with calculated values of 1.38 +/- 0.51 mM and 1.79 +/- 0.42 mM respectively. A virus-induced alteration of intracellular Na+ and K+ concentrations cannot, therefore, account for the HSV-1 induced inhibition of host protein synthesis at 3 h post-infection as has been suggested in other virus systems.