Effect of papaverine treatment on replication of measles virus in human neural and nonneural cells.

The replication of measles virus in human neural and nonneural cell lines in terms of growth and cytopathic effect was affected by treatment of the cells with papaverine, which increases endogenous cyclic AMP. Suppression of virus growth was most prominent in neuroblastoma cells, followed by that in epidermoid carcinoma and glioblastoma cells, whereas the suppressive effect was relatively weak in oligodendroglioma cells. The papaverine-induced suppression of virus growth in neuroblastoma cells was studied in detail. The suppression that occurred was dependent on the dose of papaverine and was reversible. By treatment with 10 microM papaverine, virus-cell interactions were modified as follows: (i) early replication steps such as adsorption, penetration, and uncoating of the virus were not affected; (ii) synthesis of viral RNAs, including genomic RNA and mRNA, was inhibited; (iii) translation of viral proteins from mRNA was not blocked; and (iv) glycosylation and transport of viral glycoproteins to the cell membrane were not inhibited, but phosphorylation was blocked. The significance of suppressed virus replication in neural cells is discussed in relation to the persistence mechanisms of measles virus in the central nervous system.