A novel monolayer cell line derived from human umbilical cord blood cells shows high sensitivity to measles virus.

Measles virus (MeV) research is largely dependent on the B95a cell line, which is derived from marmoset B lymphocytes. As this cell line is persistently infected with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a novel cell line, COBL-a, was established from human umbilical cord blood. COBL-a cells have a significant advantage over B95a cells because they are of human origin, are free from EBV and have higher sensitivity to wild-type MeV. Thus, COBL-a cells should prove very valuable for both epidemiological and basic studies of MeV.