Hematopoietic cells from CD155-transgenic mice express CD155 and support poliovirus replication ex vivo

Despite identification of the poliovirus (PV) receptor (CD155), mechanisms by which this molecule mediates paralytic disease remain obscure. Unanswered questions include CD155 localization in human tissues, the nature of cells supporting the first round of replication, identity of nonneural replication sites, and route of entry into the CNS. In earlier work, we showed that CD155 is expressed on primary human monocytes and that these cells support low, but statistically significant, levels of PV replication ex vivo without prior culturing. We hypothesize that monocytes support PV replication in vivo and that they contribute to pathogenesis. In the current study, we tested whether CD155-transgenic mouse hematopoietic cells express cell surface CD155 and whether these cells support PV replication. We found that the majority of monocyte/macrophages from peritoneal washes express CD155. In addition, 26-32% of CD155-transgenic bone marrow and spleen cells express CD155 on monocyte/macrophages, T cells and hematopoietic precursor cells. Various tissues supported PV replication without pre-culturing, however, pre-culturing or pre-treatment of mice with thioglycollate increased virus yield. These results are consistent with those from human cells and suggest that the CD155 transgenic mouse model is useful to help understand the role of hematopoietic cells in PV pathogenesis. (C) 2000 Academic Press.