Uptake of porcine parvovirus into host and nonhost cells suggests host specificity is determined by intracellular factors.

The uptake of porcine parvovirus (PPV) into host cells, permissive or nonpermissive for PPV replication, was monitored by autoradiography, immunofluorescent microscopy, and dual parameter flow cytometry. While both permissive and nonpermissive cells selectively took up the light (activated) form of the virus from a mixed population of heavy and light infectious virions, the virus was only replicated in the permissive cell cultures. Transfection of permissive and nonpermissive cells with purified PPV genome was only successful with the permissive host cells. These results suggest that the restriction of PPV to certain host cells is the result of intracellular events rather than selective binding of virus to the host cell surface.