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Long‐term productive human cytomegalovirus infection of a human neuroblastoma cell line
Author(s) -
Cinatl Jindrich,
Vogel JensU.,
Cinatl Jaroslav,
Weber Bernard,
Rabenau Holger,
Novak Milos,
Kornhuber Bernhard,
Doerr HansW.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0215(19960103)65:1<90::aid-ijc16>3.0.co;2-m
Subject(s) - human cytomegalovirus , biology , cell culture , virology , doubling time , population , virus , titer , microbiology and biotechnology , andrology , medicine , genetics , environmental health
Human neuroblastoma cell line UKF‐NB‐4 persistently infected with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) strain AD169 was established to study the effects of long‐term HCMV infection on virus production and phenotypic characteristics of tumour cells. The cells designated UKF‐NB‐4 AD169 were subcultured (80 subcultures) over a period of more than 2 years after initiation of infection. UKF‐NB‐4 AD169 cells continued to produce infectious virus in successive passages, with a titre ranging from 9 × 10 3 to 1 × 10 5 and from 2 × 10 1 to 2 × 10 2 plaque‐forming units per 10 6 cells and 1 ml culture medium, respectively; 10–20% of the cells produced HCMV‐specific antigens, while 6–13% produced infectious virus progeny. The number of HCMV‐specific DNA copies ranged from 9 × 10 4 to 9 × 10 6 per 10 6 cells. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the productive nature of HCMV infection. UKF‐NB‐4 AD169 cultures proliferated, with population doubling time ranging from 24.5 to 26.6 hr (19.5 to 20.3 hr for UKF‐NB‐4) and cell viability from 79% to 85% (91–96% for UKF‐NB‐4). Significantly lower amounts of tyrosine hydroxylase and decreased activity for dopamine‐β‐hydroxylase than in uninfected cells were observed in UKF‐NB‐4 AD169 cells. However, the expression of N‐myc oncoprotein was significantly increased in persistently infected cultures. Our results show that long‐term productive HCMV infection of UKF‐NB‐4 cell line is associated with the modulation of phenotypic properties, which may be related to the biological behaviour of neuroblastoma cells. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.