A plaque assay of equine arteritis virus in BHK-21 cells.

The research article deals with studying the growth of equine arteritis virus (EAV) in different cells: BHK-21, primary rabbit kidney and primary horse testicle cells, and the impact of DEAE-Dextran on EAV’s plaque formation.

Experiments with Different Types of Cells

• The researchers used three types of cells to conduct their study regarding equine arteritis virus (EAV), including BHK-21, primary rabbit kidney and primary horse testicle cells.
• The Bucyrus strain of EAV was utilized for these experiments, which was grown in the mentioned cells.
• The team observed distinct plaques formation in BHK-21 cells from the viral yields (the amount of virus) secured from the different types of cells.

Linear Relationship: Virus Concentration and Plaque Count

• The researchers discovered a linear relationship between the virus concentration and the plaque count.
• This implies that as the concentration of the virus increased, the number of plaques also increased proportionally, suggesting a directly proportional correlation.

Role of DEAE-Dextran

• DEAE-Dextran is a type of dextran, a complex branched polysaccharide (type of carbohydrate), remedied with diethylaminoethyl groups, and used for various laboratory purposes.
• The research team added 50 μg/ml DEAE-Dextran to the diluent (a liquid to make a solution less concentrated) of EAV, which resulted in the formation of the maximum number of plaques.
• Thus, they concluded that the presence of DEAE-Dextran in the diluent enhances the plaque formation capacity of the EAV strain.

Infection Sensitivity Comparison

• The team also compared the end-point titers of infectivity among the three types of cells.
• End-point titers refer to the highest dilutions of a substance at which a specific reaction or effect can still be measured.
• Despite the earlier observation of distinct plaques in BHK-21 cells, the study concluded that BHK-21 cells were as sensitive to EAV infection as rabbit kidney or horse testicle cells, indicating no significant difference in terms of their vulnerability to EAV.