Inactivation of lymphocyte-transforming activity of human T-cell leukemia virus type I by heat.

Peripheral blood lymphocytes from 2 normal individuals seronegative for human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) were co-cultured with HTLV-I-producing MT-2 cells that had been heated at 56 degrees for 30 min or exposed to 10,000 rad of X-irradiation. HTLV-I-induced lymphocyte transformation was consistently achieved by co-culture with irradiated MT-2 cells but not by co-culture with heated MT-2 cells. The heat treatment was found to be lethal to both MT-2 cells and the virus. These findings are discussed in terms of their potential clinical application for preventing the transmission of HTLV-I.