HT-29 cells: a new substrate for rotavirus growth.
Susceptibilities of a continuous rhesus monkey kidney cell line (MA-104) and that of a human colon carcinoma cell line (HT-29) to infection by different human and animal rotavirus strains were compared. HT-29 cells appeared to be more sensitive to human rotavirus infection than MA-104 cells, whereas the latter cell line was more susceptible to animal rotavirus replication. The greater sensitivity to human rotavirus infection of HT-29 cells was confirmed by the successful, direct isolation of these viruses from faecal specimens. Human rotavirus infection of HT-29 cells was also followed by transmission electron microscopy. In ultra-thin sections, unenveloped particles of rotaviruses, representing infectious mature virions, were observed in large number. Moreover, many "double-shelled" particles were detected in negative-stained supernatants from infected cultures. Scanning electron microscopy of uninfected HT-29 cells showed that in the presence of Ca++, required for rotavirus growth, they are able to express some of the features of mature intestinal cells. In view of these results, HT-29 cells appear to be a useful in vitro model for the study of rotavirus infection.
Superti
F
F
Laboratorio di Ultrastrutture, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma, Italy.
Tinari
A
A
Baldassarri
L
L
Donelli
G
G
D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000382:microbiology; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000382:microbiology; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000382:microbiology; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012692:Serial Passage; D013045:Species Specificity; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D014776:Virus Cultivation / Q000379:methods*
D000914:Antibodies, Viral