Growth of Mengo encephalitis virus in Ehrlich ascites cells in vitro.

Since the Ehrlich ascites tumor cells were first described by Loewenthal and Jahn (14), they have been the subject of many investigations, both bio logical and chemical. Klein investigated the bi ology and nucleic acid content of the cells (8, 9). Their striking property of assimilating and con centrating free amino acids was reported by Christensen and co-workers (2). Kun and others studied some of the enzymatic and metabolic ac tivities of the ascites cells (11), and McKee and his associates (15) presented findings on the endoge nous respiration and the effect of some of the Krebs cycle intermediates upon the respiration of these cells. Koprowska and Koprowski (10) were successful in growing Mengo encephalitis virus in the Ehrlich cells in vivo,and Love, Koprowski, and Cox (13) described cytological changes associated with the growth of Bunyamwera virus in Ehrlich ascites tumor cells in mice. The successful propa gation of ascites tumor cells in tissue culture (7,12, 19) suggested the possibility of investigating the virus infection of the cells in vitro. This paper reports the propagation of Mengo encephalitis virus in Ehrlich ascites cells by simple tissue culture technic and preliminary studies on some of the metabolic activities of the uninfected and virus-infected tumor cell systems.