Resistance of cultures of normal T cells to infection with murine type C viruses.

Long-term continuous cultures of normal T cells were established from C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice by using conditioned medium from concanavalin A-stimulated lymphocytes. The ability of various murine type C viruses to infect these normal T cell cultures was examined and compared with their ability to infect transformed T cells. All of the viruses examined, including a thymotropic radiation leukemia virus, were unable to infect and replicate in normal T cells but readily did so in transformed T cells.