Nonpermissive infection of lymphoblastoid cells by vesicular stomatitis virus. I. Synthesis and function of the viral transcripts.

The human B-lymphoblastoid cell line Raji is nonpermissive for infection by vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) (Nowakowski et al. (1973) J. Virol. 12, 1272-1278). Viral-specific transcription begins immediately after infection, but Raji cells synthesize only about one-twentieth as much viral RNA as is synthesized by a permissive host. The viral primary transcripts appear to be unstable in Raji cells when prevented from engaging in protein synthesis by the addition of cycloheximide. The messages are undermethylated in the 5'-terminal cap structure and have a relatively short 3'-polyadenylate tail. Nevertheless, the subcellular distribution of the messages indicates that many of these RNAs are present in large polyribosomes. Analyses of the effects of a temperature-sensitive mutation in the viral matrix protein indicate that mRNA synthesis in Raji cells is limited only by the amount of available nucleocapsid templates and not by a specific defect in transcription.