Metabolism of rubella virus-infected BHK21 cells Enhanced glycolysis and late cellular inhibition

Summary

When BHK21/13S cell monolayer cultures are infected with rubella virus at a high-exposure multiplicity (M = 10–20), the earliest detectable morphologic change, an increase in the refractility of the cells, develops within two days after infection and well after the virus has been released. No inhibition of cell replication occurs during the first 24 hours post-infection; a partial inhibition of cell division occurs thereafter and continues even after sub cultivation. This inhibition of cell division correlates with a decrease in DNA synthesis and an increased rate of aerobic glycolysis.

In stationary phase cultures, the first evidence of an increased aerobic glycolytic rate occurs between 24–36 hours post-infection and thus precedes the appearance of gross morphologic changes. By 24–32 hours after infection, the inhibition of RNA and protein synthesis is unquestionably evident, but the inhibition of DNA synthesis in infected cells is not evident until 33-4S hours post-infection. The declines in the rates of RNA and of protein synthesis parallel each other closely and appear to precede the inhibition of DNA synthesis by 12–24 hours. The acceleration of the glycolytic rate, on the other hand, precedes the inhibition of macromolecular synthesis and continues at a rate 4- to 6-fold greater than normal until the glucose in the medium has been exhausted.