INTERFERON-GAMMA POTENTIATES HUMAN CORONAVIRUS OC43 INFECTION OF NEURONAL CELLS BY MODULATION OF HLA CLASS-I EXPRESSION

HCN-1A, a human cerebral cortical neuron cell line, was examined for i ts susceptibility to human coronaviruses. The 229e strain replicated e fficiently, bur the OC43 strain did not replicate well, if at all. Tre atment of the cells with interferon gamma at 20U/ml for 48 hr markedly increased the susceptibility of the cells to infection with OC43 viru s as shown by a 100-fold increase in secretion of infectious virus ove r a four day period as compared to untreated controls. The increased s usceptibility was shown to be due to membrane expression of HLA class I by receptor-blockade with a monoclonal antibody specific for HLA mol ecules.