Diabetes, Vol 27, Issue 7 778-781, Copyright © 1978 by American Diabetes Association
Virus-induced diabetes mellitus. XI. Replication of coxsackie B3 virus in human pancreatic beta cell cultures
JW Yoon, T Onodera, AB Jenson and AL Notkins
The capacity of Coxsackie B3 virus to infect insulin-containing beta cells
was studied in human pancreatic cell cultures. Antibody to Coxsackie B3
virus was labeled with fluorescein isothiocyanate, and antibody to insulin
was labeled with rhodamine. By use of a double-label antibody technique,
three populations of cells were identified: uninfected insulin-containing
beta cells, which stained only with rhodamine-labeled anti-insulin
antibody; Coxsackie-infected (noninsulin-containing) cells, which stained
only with fluorescein-labeled anti-Coxsackie antibody; and
Coxsackie-infected insulin-containing beta cells, which stained with both
antibodies. Radioimmunoassay showed that intracellular immunoreactive
insulin decreased rapidly beginning at 24 hours after infection, and the
decrease in insulin roughly paralleled the increase in viral titer. It is
concluded that, under in vitro conditions, human beta cells are susceptible
to Coxsackie B3 virus.