PRESUMPTIVE IDENTIFICATION OF COMMON ADENOVIRUS SEROTYPES BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF DIFFERENTIAL CYTOPATHIC EFFECTS IN THE HUMAN LUNG CARCINOMA-(A549) CELL-CULTURE
Sm. Lipson et al., PRESUMPTIVE IDENTIFICATION OF COMMON ADENOVIRUS SEROTYPES BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF DIFFERENTIAL CYTOPATHIC EFFECTS IN THE HUMAN LUNG CARCINOMA-(A549) CELL-CULTURE, FEMS microbiology letters, 113(2), 1993, pp. 175-182
The neutralization test is commonly used in clinical virology laborato
ries for the identification by serotype of adenovirus isolates. In an
effort to conserve reagents and reduce the amount of time in the perfo
rmance of this assay, we evaluated the significance of differential cy
topathic effects for the presumptive identification of lower-numbered
adenovirus serotypes that are commonly encountered in the clinical set
ting. Utilizing the human lung carcinoma (A549) cell culture as our in
dicator system, two viral induced monolayer degenerations (i.e., cytop
athic effects or CPEs) were recognized. Among our wild and the laborat
ory adapted (i.e., ATCC) adenovirus isolates tested in this study, ser
otypes 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 19, 21, 27, and 31 were expectedly charac
terized by the typically enlarged, rounded, and refractile cells, whic
h eventually aggregated into irregular 'grape-like' clusters. Adenovir
us types 3 and 7, however, were characterized by the development of di
stinct intranuclear inclusions, a flattening and then a web or net-lik
e monolayer degeneration. Differences in the intensity of intranuclear
granulation were related by electron microscopy to differences in the
quantity of viral crystalline aggregates within the host cell nucleus
. A presumptive identification of the commonly encountered adenovirus
serotypes 3 and 7 prior to the performance of the neutralization test
would result in a conservation of type-specific antiserum, a decreased
use of cell cultures and medium, and lastly, reduced medical technolo
gist workload.