Translational Control in Murine Hepatitis Virus Infection

High multiplicity infection of mouse fibroblast L-2 cells with mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) resulted, within 6 h, in a decline in total protein synthesis to about 7% of that observed in uninfected cells. The amount of intracellular total translatable RNA, however, increased approximately threefold, as a result of the accumulation of virus-encoded mRNAs. MHV-infected cells could be superinfected with vesicular stomatitis virus, demonstrating that MHV infection did not irreversibly alter the cellular translational machinery to the exclusion of non-MHV mRNAs. Comparative polysome analysis from MHV-infected and uninfected L-2 cells showed that MHV infection resulted in an increase in single 80S ribosomes and in a shift from longer to shorter polysomes. These observations suggest first, that MHV infection inhibits total protein synthesis at a very early stage, as evidenced by the increase in 80S ribosomes, and, second, that the increased number of viral mRNAs produced after infection compete with cellular mRNAs for cellular ribosomes. In vitro translation of RNA extracted from MHV-infected and mock-infected cells suggested that levels of cellular mRNAs were decreased after infection. This suggestion was confirmed by demonstrating the loss of cellular actin mRNA, using a radiolabelled cDNA probe, as a consequence of MHV infection.