Infection of Haematopoietic Stem Cells In Mice With Friend Virus Induced Erythroleukaemia

Abstract. Animals infected with conventional anaemia (FVA) or polycythemia‐inducing (FVP) strains of the Friend virus develop lethal erythroleukaemia. A variant strain, RFV, induces an initially identical disease except that it spontaneously regresses in 50% of infected mice. to determine whether pluripotent stem cells as measured by spleen colony forming units (CFU‐s) in leukaemic mice are productively infected with virus and whether their infection influences the outcome of the disease, we tested CFU‐s from leukaemic mice for susceptibility to cytotoxicity by monospecific antiviral gp70 antiserum. Spleen CFU‐s from progressively leukaemic (FVP, FVA and RFV) mice were productively infected with virus. CFU‐s in RFV progressors became infected by 40 days post‐virus inoculation. FVA and FVP progressors became infected between 15 and 21 days post virus. Infection of CFU‐s was accompanied by an increase in the proportion of replicating (S phase) CFU‐s in these populations. Spleen CFU‐s from fully regressed RFV regressor mice were uninfected and remained so throughout the course of their disease. Bone marrow CFU‐s in both regressors and progressors remained uninfected and were not induced to increased cell cycling.