Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis: Measles virus matrix protein nucleic acid sequences detected by in situ hybridization

Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) is characterized by a hyperimmune state toward the polypeptides of measles virus except the matrix (M) protein. Using cloned ( 3 H)-labeled complementary DNA probes for in situ hybridization, we found the IM protein and nucleocapsid (NP) protein nucleotide sequences in glial cells and neurons of cryostat sections from two SSPE brains. In one SSPE brain, M protein was lacking, but the other measles polypeptides were present. IgG and IgM antibodies eluted from that brain lacked antibodies to M protein, but antibodies to other measles polypeptides were present. In SSPE brain, the viral M-protein defect is not a deletion of the M gene, but rather a block in gene expression.