| Background. Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a common causative agent of congenital viral infections in humans and an important pathogen in allograft recipients. In patients with active HCMV infection, detection of, HCMV phosphoprotein pp65 inside polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNL) is often used to follow the virus load. It is as yet unresolved whether detection of pp65 and other viral antigens is a result of active HCMV infection within PMNL, or detection is due to uptake and accumulation of viral antigens from infected cells through phagocytosis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the interaction between HCMV and PMNL, using an in vitro model of study.; Methods. HL-60 cells (human promyelocytic leukemia cell line) which are of myeloid lineage, were stimulated with DMSO to obtain more mature cells. Unstimulated and stimulated cells were inoculated with live and heat inactivated HCMV at various multiplicities of infection (MOI). Cells were tested for the presence of HCMV immediate-early (IE) antigen (Ag), pp65 Ag, and late Ag by immunofluorescence assays (IFA).; They were further tested for HCMV DNA, mRNA, infectious viral progeny, and examined for viral particles by electron microscopy (EM) and immunoelectron microscopy (IEM). (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
