Frances Y. Legallais

Growth of Ultraviolet-Damaged Herpesvirus in Xeroderma Pigmentosum Cells

Summary The growth of ultravioletirradiated herpes simplex virus was studied in cultures of skin fibroblasts from a patient with xeroderma pigmentosum and compared with growth in WI-38 cells, skin fibroblasts from people with no evidence of xeroderma pigmentosum and in HeLa cells. The irradiated virus grows less efficiently in the xeroderma pigmentosum cells than it does in the other cell lines examined, suggesting that mechanisms for repair of the UV-damaged viral DNA may be deficient in the xeroderma pigmentosum cells. This is consistent with previous observations of others that repair mechanisms for UV-damaged cellular DNA may be defective in skin fibroblasts and leukocytes from patients with xeroderma pigmentosum.

Isolation and growth of rat cytomegalovirus in vitro.

Summary Histopathologic evidence of cytomegalovirus infection was found in the salivary glands of 49% of wild rats trapped in the Republic of Panama. Rat cytomegalovirus was isolated from these glands in monolayer cultures derived from (Lew-BN)F1 rat kidneys and serially passed in these cells with production of typical cytomegalovirus plaques and intranuclear and intracytoplasmic inclusions. The virus could also be serially passed in primary hamster kidney cells with production of plaques and inclusion bodies. Sera of 20 of 35 wild Panamanian rats contained neutralizing antibody, but no antibody was found in sera of 5 humans living in the area in which the infected rats were trapped.