Mumps virus infection of dissociated rodent spinal ganglia in vitro. Expression and disappearance of viral structural proteins from neurons.

Cultured spinal ganglia and cord from mice and hamsters were infected with mumps virus or Sendai virus. Expression of five structural proteins, the haemagglutinin-neuraminidase, fusion, nucleocapsid (NP), phospho (P) and matrix proteins was examined with monoclonal antibodies to each protein. In Sendai virus-infected mouse neurons all five viral proteins were detected. In hamster neurons infected with mumps virus all viral proteins were also expressed, but in mouse neurons only the NP and P proteins were seen. This suggests a species-specific cellular restriction of viral protein synthesis in mumps virus-infected mouse neurons. There was no, or only a slight, reduction in the number of neurons between days 4 and 20 after infection of mouse cultures with mumps virus, but the proportion of infected neurons diminished from 68% to 15% during this time.