Fine structural changes in human astrocyte carrier lines for measles virus

CHRONIC infection with measles virus is causally related to the human syndrome of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE)1–5, and means of reproducing that condition in experimental animals are being sought6–10. Measles carrier states in vitro have been established in some human11–13 and rodent14,15 cell systems. We now report the establishment of measles carrier states in human astrocyte cultures of normal brain, and in a tumour astrocyte line, as well as the emergence of fine structural features which bear a close resemblance to findings in the brain of some patients with SSPE16.