Early interactions between poliovirus and ERK cells: Some observations on the nature and significance of the rejected particles

Abstract

At temperatures above 23°, 60–80% of adsorbed P 32-labeled poliovirus particles, apparently in combination with cellular material, were sloughed from ERK cells. Unlike virus, the sloughed labeled material adsorbed to diethylaminoethylcellulose, but not to cells; its density in a tartrate gradient was 1.20–1.22; it was split by crude trypsin and precipitated by ether. Its infectivity was not restored at pH 2.5. Sloughing was inhibited by 10 m M glutathione. After adsorption to cells at 0°, full virus infectivity could be recovered with deoxycholate. At 20°, and probably still at the cell surface, adsorbed infective virus was reversibly inactivated: its infectivity could be restored at pH 2.5 but not by deoxycholate. At 20°, infective centers became resistant to antiserum although sloughing of labeled particles was prevented. However, preincubation of infected cells at 20° neither reduced the amount of P 32 subsequently sloughed at 37°, nor increased the number of cells infected. Most of the nonsloughed labeled material remained resistant to the action of ribonuclease for up to 2 hours after infection.