A Paralytic Disease in Nude Mice Associated with Polyoma Virus Infection

• Published in: Journal of general virology 1983-01, Vol.64 (1), p.57-67
• Main Authors: McCance, Dennis J, Sebesteny, Andor, Griffin, Beverly E, Balkwill, Frances, Tilly, Rita, Gregson, Norman A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Antibodies, Viral - analysis; Biological and medical sciences; Brain - microbiology; DNA Restriction Enzymes; DNA, Viral - analysis; Fluorescent Antibody Technique; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests; Male; Mice; Mice, Nude; Microbiology; Myelin Sheath - pathology; Oligodendroglia - microbiology; Paralysis - etiology; Polyomavirus - growth & development; Replicative cycle, interference, host-virus relations, pathogenicity, miscellaneous strains; Spinal Cord - microbiology; Tumor Virus Infections - microbiology; Tumor Virus Infections - pathology; Virology
• ISSN: 0022-1317; 1465-2099
• DOI: 10.1099/0022-1317-64-1-57

1 Department of Microbiology Guy's Hospital Medical School, London SE1 9RT 2 Imperial Cancer Research Fund, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3AX and 3 Imperial Cancer Research Fund, Burtonhole Lane, London NW7 1AD, U.K. and 4 Department of Anatomy, Guy's Hospital Medical School, London SE1 9RT Nude mice (nu/nu), heterotransplanted with human tumours and kept in isolators, were found to suffer from wasting and posterior paralysis. Electron microscopy of spinal cord tissue revealed virus particles in the oligodendrocytes consistent in size (35 to 40 nm), morphology and distribution with those of the polyoma-SV40 sub-group of papovaviruses. Serology and restriction enzyme analysis of the virus genome showed that the virus was the murine polyoma A2 strain. Inoculation of uninfected nude mice with 10 7 TCID 50 of polyoma A2 strain virus produced a similar disease in these mice with wasting and, after 10 to 23 weeks, paralysis of the hind legs of all surviving mice. Extensive myelin disruption was seen throughout the brain stem and sacral region of the spinal cord and high titres of polyoma virus were found in the whole brain (10 8.8 TCID 50 /brain) and in the spinal cord (10 6.8 TCID 50 /spinal cord). Keywords: paralysis, papovavirus, nude mice Received 17 May 1982; accepted 18 August 1982.