Effect of the replication of rubella virus on the protein biosynthesis of BHK 21 cell cultures

: The protein biosynthesis of BHK-21/C 13 cell cultures under the influence of multiplying rubella virus was studied by the uptake and incorporation of 14C leucine. The uptake of 14C leucine by the cells of virus-infected cultures was found to increase up to the third day after infection; no further increase was detectable on the fourth day. Control cultures maintained under the same conditions showed a similar behaviour up to the second and on the fourth day. On the third day, the virus-infected cultures exhibited significantly higher uptake than the controls. It may be that the virus infection causes damage to the cellular wall, the nature of which has yet to be elucidated. The protein incorporation of 14C leucine slightly increases in the virus-infected cultures 36 hrs after infection. This increase is not equally pronounced in the control cultures, but the differences were not significant.