Human cytomegalovirus: propagation, quantification, and storage.

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the largest and perhaps the most structurally complex member of the family of human herpesviruses. It is the prototypic virus of the beta-herpesvirus subfamily. As with other cytomegaloviruses, HCMV is exquisitely species specific and undergoes lytic replication only in cells of human origin. In addition, its replication is limited almost entirely to primary cells and a limited number of transformed cell lines. Together with its prolonged replicative cycle of approximately 48 hr, the propagation and quantification of HCMV can present technical challenges. In this brief set of protocols, the propagation of laboratory strains of HCMV and their quantitation is described. In a third series of protocols, the concentration and gradient purification of HCMV for more specialized downstream applications is described.