Sendai virus glycoproteins are T cell-dependent B cell mitogens.

UV-inactivated Sendai virus is mitogenic for murine splenocytes, whereas infectious Sendai virus kills spleen cells in vitro. The isolated hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) and fusion (F) glycoproteins of Sendai virus are also mitogenic for cultured mouse spleen cells. A mixture of these glycoproteins (1 microgram/well) gives maximum stimulation 96 h after culture initiation. Viral proteins remaining insoluble after Triton X-100 extraction are also mitogenic for mouse spleen cells, with maximum stimulation occurring at 72 h after culture initiation with 1 to 5 microgram/well. On the basis of protein concentration, the HN and F glycoproteins are approximately three times more mitogenic than the Triton X-100-insoluble material. The mitogenic response of the HN and F glycoproteins has two components, a T cell-independent B cell proliferation, which is less than one-half of the total stimulation observed, and a T cell-dependent B cell proliferation. In contrast, the Triton X-100-insoluble material is a T cell-dependent B cell mitogen. Purified T lymphocytes do not respond to the mitogenic signal of either HN-F or Triton X-100-insoluble material.