This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Selsky, C. A. Articles by Little, J. B. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Selsky, C. A. Articles by Little, J. B.

Defective Reactivation of Ultraviolet Light-irradiated Herpesvirus by a Bloom's Syndrome Fibroblast Strain¹

Department of Physiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115

We have used the technique of host cell reactivation of UV-irradiated herpes simplex virus type 1 as a measure of the repair capacity of three Bloom's syndrome skin fibroblast strains. At low multiplicity of infection (less than 6 x 10^-4 plaque-forming unit/cell), reactivation of the virus by the Bloom's syndrome strains was indistinguishable from that by normal strains. Reactivation at higher multiplicities was measured using an infectious centers assay. At 3 plaque-forming units/cell, survival of UV-irradiated herpes simplex virus was higher in all cell strains as a result of the multiplicity reactivation effect. This effect was, however, much smaller in one Bloom's syndrome strain, GM1492, than in either the normal strains or the other Bloom's syndrome fibroblasts. The defect in GM1492 was manifest only at relatively high multiplicities of infection. Thus, at 0.01 plaque-forming unit/cell, the GM1492 strain appeared normal, using the infectious centers assay. Clonal survival of the UV-irradiated GM1492 fibroblasts was also normal. Caffeine at 4 mM had little effect on either virus or cell survival following UV irradiation.

The results indicate that the Bloom's syndrome strain GM1492 may be deficient in one of the cellular functions responsible for the multiplicity reactivation effect. These effects include complementation and recombinational events. Alternatively, the GM1492 strain may have a defective UV repair system which becomes saturated at high levels of damage.

¹ Supported by Research Grants CA-11751 and ES-00002 and Training Grant AG-05015 from NIH.

² Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif. 94305.

³ To whom requests for reprints should be addressed.

Received 12/ 4/78. Accepted 5/17/79.