Registration of spontaneous photon emission from virus-infected cell cultures: development of experimental system.

ABSTRACT

Detection of spontaneous photon emission from virus-infected cells was attempted using cell monolayer cultures prepared from the established cell lines differing by origin and sensitivity to viruses. The experimental system was elaborated permitting maintenance of the cell monolayer cultures grown upon quartz slides placed inside quartz cuvettes within the photomultiplier chamber during prolonged time periods (till 24-36 hr) covering the whole virus multiplication cycle. Rich nutritive medium was employed, providing undisturbed cell viability and virus-induced cytopathic effect (CPE) development during such prolonged experiment, each ingredient of the medium being checked as potential parasitic emitter or extinguisher of the cell-specific emission. As presupposed 'positive control', the in vivo cultivated chorio-allantoic membranes (CAM) of 10-days-old chick-embryonated eggs were used. The virus-infected CAMs showed specific peculiarities of the emission dynamics as compared to monotonous dynamics shown by non-infected CAMs. Similar dynamic regularities were observed in cell monolayer cultures containing much lesser (by order) number of cells per exposed sample. Using the elaborated system, some specific changes in the virus-infected cells were found, being correlated with two stages of virus replication cycle the initial stage, synchronous penetration of the pre-adsorbed virus inside the cell, and a later stage, characterized by intensive CPE manifestations.