Early interaction of rhinoviruses with host cells

Abstract

The rate of attachment of type 2 virions to suspensions of HeLa cells is much greater than that of type 14, but the number of receptor sites per cell is similar for each type. The receptor sites may be partly saturated with excess virions; attachment is greatly reduced after about 10(4) particles have been taken up per cell. A lack of saturation of type 14 receptors by excess type 2 indicates that their receptor sites are separate on the cell surface. Excess of type 2 blocks attachment of type 1A, however, and excess of type 14 blocks type 51. Attachment of the human rhinoviruses is temperature-dependent with a Q(10) of 2.7. The eclipse reaction is also temperature-dependent. At 34.5 C, the irreversible eclipse of cell-associated rhinovirus type 2 requires only a few minutes, whereas the rate of eclipse of cell-associated type 14 is considerably slower. The eclipse product of type 2 rhinovirus has been recovered from infected cells. It sediments at about 90% of the rate of the infective virions and is missing virus polypeptide 4 (the smallest of the capsid polypeptides). Upon being subjected to CsCl gradient centrifugation, virus polypeptide 2 is also lost but the product still contains ribonucleic acid and bands at about 1.45 g/cc.