Some Metabolic Effects of Poliomyelitis Virus on Tissue Culture

Abstract

A DESIRABLE experimental condition for the study of metabolic effects of viruses on living organisms is that all or nearly all the cells be infected and that they be infected approximately simultaneously so that any metabolic changes can reasonably be expected to take place at about the same time throughout the cell population. This condition can readily be achieved with bacteriophages and their hosts, and a great deal of valuable work has been done with this system^1,2. It has been virtually impossible to approximate to the necessary conditions with animal viruses and their intact hosts. The closest approximation has been achieved in the work with eggs; but complications introduced by host influences must be considered. As a result, our knowledge of metabolic changes induced in animal cells by animal viruses is limited. With the present emergence of tissue-culture techniques as an almost standardized procedure and the availability of animal virus suspensions of high titre, it has become feasible to undertake quantitative metabolic studies with animal viruses, and to relate any observed effects with virus growth. The present preliminary report is a summary of work on the effect of Type III poliomyelitis virus (Saukett strain) on some aspects of the metabolism of monkey kidney tissue culture; specifically, the effects of the virus on glycolysis and on the uptake by the tissue of glycine-2-carbon-14.