Maintenance of replicative intermediates in ganciclovir-treated human cytomegalovirus-infected retinal glia
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E M Burd1, J S Pulido, D G Puro
1Department of Ophthalmology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA.
Objectives:
To characterize the molecular structure of the human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) DNA maintained in cultures of human retinal glia following ganciclovir treatment and to determine the biological activity of the DNA.
Methods:
Cultures of human retinal glia were established, infected with HCMV, treated with ganciclovir, and embedded in agarose, and the viral DNA was analyzed by field inversion gel electrophoresis.
Results:
The HCMV DNA was found to persist in cultures of infected, ganciclovir-treated retinal glial cells in the form of replicative intermediates. After removal of ganciclovir, processed forms of DNA in the 500-to 1000-kilobase range were found as well as 230-kb unit length genome. Infectious virus was recovered after termination of ganciclovir treatment.
Conclusion:
The data are consistent with the concept that ganciclovir's virostatic nature permits maintenance of HCMV DNA in retinal glia in a biologically active form that is capable of replication after removal of the drug.