Antibody-induced Modulation of Rhabdovirus Infection of Neurons in Vitro

Dissociated neuron cultures of mice were inoculated with vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) and subsequently fed with medium containing sufficient antiviral antibody (AB) to neutralize all free virus. In contrast to control acute neuronal infection, which lasts one to two days, AB-treated neuron cultures were maintained as long as two weeks. This protection was not obtained in infected monkey kidney cells treated with AB. Protected neuron cultures were examined with immunolabeling and EM techniques. During the first days of AB treatment, viral buds and surface antigens were often grouped in clusters instead of being diffuse on the neuronal surface. In addition, phagocytic cells often in contact with viruses released by neurons progressively engulfed aggregates of these viruses in their lysosomal systems. Dendritic processes in AB-treated cultures contained more viral antigen and ribonucleoproteins, but less assembly sites than in acutely-infected neurons. However, budding sites were frequent on the side of the post-synaptic density and some viruses seemed to enter directly into the lateral side of the presynaptic terminal to which the productive dendrite was connected. Removal of AB at this stage resulted in reactivation of viral infection in more neurons than those originally infected, but complete viral maturation and release occurred only 2 to 3 days after removal of AB. Chance of reactivation decreased with increasing length of AB treatment, and no viral antigens or budding sites were detected during the second week of AB treatment. Continuous treatment of VSV-infected neuron cultures with antiviral AB first induces (1) activation of non-neuronal cells to phagocytize clusters of viruses forming at the neuron surface, and (2) restriction of virus maturation sites mostly to the postsynaptic area where virus spreading to presynaptic endings seems favored. Prolonged treatment with AB later results in the apparent curing of the infection.