Influenza A Virus Interaction with Murine Lymphocytes

Abstract

Abstract This report describes changes in surface properties of rat thoracic duct lymphocytes (TDL) induced by influenza virus A/Japan 305 (H2N2). After incubation with virus at 37°C, sialic acids were released from the membranes of TDL with concomitant reduction in their mean electrophoretic mobility. Autoradiographs of TDL which had been incubated with 125I virus at 4°C showed that the particles attached to nearly all the lymphocytes although there was variation in the amount of virus bound per cell. Attachment occurred rapidly with maximum labeling evident after incubation at 4°C for 5 min. Incubation at 37°C for 1 hr resulted in a 10 to 18% reduction in the incidence of labeled TDL suggesting that some virus eluted spontaneously. When 125I-virus-treated TDL were incubated in syngeneic serum, substantial amounts of virus eluted reducing the incidence of labeled cells by 50%. In addition, evidence was obtained by indirect immunofluorescence that syngeneic serum contains antibodies which react with sites on the lymphocyte surface exposed by the viral neuraminidase.