A Simplified Tissue-Culture Technique to Detect Rous Sarcoma Virus and Its Application in Antibody Assays

Abstract

The degree of acidity in chick embryo fibroblast cultures infected with Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) was found to be directly proportional to virus dose, making possible reasonably accurate virus titrations. This acid response was detected, after 4 to 6 days of incubation, in small cultures prepared in disposable cups (capacity 1 ml) of plastic. The presence of RSV-neutralizing antibodies in serum was determined by inoculating cup cultures with virus dilutions (controls) and virus-serum mixtures. The absence of acid in a cup indicated the inhibition of RSV growth due to the presence of antibodies in the respective serum. The results of the test agreed very closely with those obtained by the conventional tissue-culture assay technique described by Rubin. The modifications described substantially reduced the time and cost of performing antibody assays and should make large-scale testing distinctly feasible.