Excretion of polyamines from baby hamster kidney cells (BHK-21/C13: effect of infection with Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1.

Confluent monolayers of BHK-21/C13 cells excreted increasing amounts of polyamines into the extracellular medium with time. Excretion was specificity of spermidine and was not the result of cell death or lysis. Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) completely prevented excretion of polyamines from 2 h after infection of the cells. The virus specificity inhibited the release of free spermidine but not of conjugated polyamines.