DIFFERENTIAL DOWN-REGULATION OF CD46 BY MEASLES-VIRUS STRAINS

Recently, we found that several lymphotropic wild-type isolates of mea sles virus (MV) did not lead to the downregulation of CD46 following i nfection. We hypothesized that either the site of virus isolation, e.g ., throat swab versus peripheral blood mononuclear cells, or the cell type used for the isolation may exert selective pressure on a mixed po pulation of viruses, resulting in isolates with the differential prope rties observed. This hypothesis has been tested bg simultaneously isol ating MV from a throat swab and peripheral blood mononuclear cells fro m a single patient by cultivation on B95 and Vero cells. We report tha t neither the source of MV nor the cell type used for isolation direct ly influenced the capacity for CD46 modulation of these MV isolates.