SYNERGISM BETWEEN POLYOMA AND INACTIVATED SENDAI VIRUS IN HUMAN ASTROCYTES, FIBROBLASTS AND HELA CELLS

Replication of polyoma virus in normally-resistant human cells was induced by exposure of polyoma-adsorbed cells to the syncytiogenic activity of inactivated Sendai virus. While polyoma replicated to a similar extent in astrocytes, fibroblasts and HeLa cells, it produced a cytopathic effect only in the astrocytes. Others have found both paramyxovirus and papovavirus particles in cases of SSPE and have suggested that a synergism between the two viruses may account for this and other human diseases. Our data present an experimental analogy to this concept.