Translation of individual host mRNA's in MPC-11 cells is differentially suppressed after infection by vesicular stomatitis virus.

Infection of MPC-11 mouse plasmacytoma cells by vesicular stomatitis virus results in 30 to 35% reduction in [35S]methionine incorporation into total proteins within 30 min postinfection. By 6 h postinfection, total protein synthesis is reduced by 80 to 90%. However, even by 30 min postinfection, a differential suppression of the synthesis of individual host protein is observed. The synthesis of the immunoglobin G (IgG) heavy chain (H), and, in particular, the synthesis of IgG light chain (L), is considerably more resistant to vesicular stomatitis virus-induced inhibition than is the synthesis of the non-IgG proteins as a whole; e.g., when the synthesis of non-IgG proteins was reduced by 41%, the synthesis of the H and L chains was reduced by 28 and 7%, respectively. Furthermore, these alterations in the relative synthesis of the L chain, H chain, and non-IgG are comparable to the alterations previously observed in uninfected MPC-11 cells when the overall rate of polypeptide chain initiation was selectively reduced (D.L. Nuss and G. Koch, 1976). These results are discussed in terms of the strategy of virus-directed suppression of host mRNA translation.