Studies on the hemolysis of red blood cells by mumps virus. IV. Quantitative study of changes in red blood cell lipides and of virus lipides.

Hemolysis of chicken red blood cells by mumps virus is associated with the release of sphingomyelin from the stromal lipoprotein and the destruction of 65 per cent of the sphingomyelin of the red cell stroma. However, the virus had no effect on isolated phosphatides extracted from the erythrocytes. The hemolytic action of the virus and changes in sphingomyelin content of the erythrocytes fail to occur at a pH of 6.0. The viral hemolysis of human erythrocytes is not associated with similar alterations in their content of sphingomyelin. The absence of lecithin from sheep erythrocytes, which are also lysed by mumps virus, is additional evidence that a viral lecithinase is not associated with the hemolytic property of mumps virus. Mumps virus concentrated from the amniotic fluid of viral infected chick embryos contains about 7 per cent phosphatide, 60 per cent of which is sphingomyelin.