A novel monolayer cell line derived from human umbilical cord blood cells shows high sensitivity to measles virus

1 Laboratory Animal Research Center, Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan 2 NPO–Biomedical Science Association, Tokyo 169-0075, Japan 3 National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), Tokyo 190-0011, Japan 4 National Center for Communicable Diseases, Ulaanbaatar 48, Mongolia 5 National Measles Laboratory, Virology Department, Refik Saydam National Hygiene Center, Ankara 18-06100, Turkey Correspondence Chieko Kai ckai{at}ims.u-tokyo.ac.jp Measles virus (MeV) research is largely dependent on the B95a cell line, which is derived from marmoset B lymphocytes. As this cell line is persistently infected with Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), a novel cell line, COBL-a, was established from human umbilical cord blood. COBL-a cells have a significant advantage over B95a cells because they are of human origin, are free from EBV and have higher sensitivity to wild-type MeV. Thus, COBL-a cells should prove very valuable for both epidemiological and basic studies of MeV.