QUANTITATIVE MICRO P-30 AND REVERSE-TRANSCRIPTASE ASSAYS FOR MOLONEY MURINE LEUKEMIA-VIRUS

An anti-P30 immunohistochemical and a reverse transcriptase assay for Moloney murine leukemia virus (MoMLV) are adapted to 96-well plates. T he assay results are shown to be directly proportional to the number o f infectious particles, and can therefore be used to estimate the infe ctive titers of a virus preparation. The micro P30 assay yields a dire ct estimate of infectious centers; and the reverse transcriptase assay quantitates progeny from a single cycle of replication. The semi-auto mated nature of these assays is well suited to the analysis of a large number of samples and therefore permits the examination of the effici ency of the process of retroviral/MoMLV infection under varied times o r conditions.