The characteristics of lymphocyte tritiated thymidine incorporation in response to mumps virus

Abstract The parameters of immune lymphocyte responsiveness to mumps virus were studied by evaluation of tritiated thymidine incorporation. Inactivated virus was found to be a potent stimulus and response was found to be dependent on antigen concentration, and a radioresistant, adherent cell population. Measurable lymphocyte transformation after primary exposure to this Measurement lymphocyte transformation after primary exposure to this virus was found to persist for up to 40 years, and to correlate well with delayed skin sensitivity. The results demonstrate that lymphocyte transformation is a sensitive in vitro assay of cellular reactivity to this virus if used in an inactivated form. It is suggested that it may be a useful method to study the course of cellular reactivity after viral exposure as well as a means to detect previous exposure to other viruses.