The unusual characters of the HVJ (Z) virus considered to belong to the MNI group were described in the previous reports. In the present experiment, an inquiry was made into the possible interrelations between its blood cell agglutinating activity, eluting activity and hemolytic activity.
When the purified and concentrated virus preparation was resuspended in various kinds of media regulated to pH 7.2 and the virus suspensions thus obtained were kept in hot water of 45°C, it was found that each solution of 4%-2% casaminoacid, 1%-0.5% broth, 2%-1% polypepton, and 0.05 mol of Lysine-HCI could strongly protect the CCA activity, while glucose, sucrose and dextran solutions could not. Urea had an inactivating effect on the CCA activity. Lysine was found capable of being adsorbed onto the Z virus. It is possible that the fact might have something to do with the heat stability of the CCA activity.
Heating at 45°C reduced the infectivity, but this reduction of infectivity was comparatively small in the case of a medium capable of protecting the CCA activity. Furthermore, when the virus was kept either in a casamino-acid or a polypepton solution at 45°C for 16 hours, the CCA activity remained normal but the infectivity disappeared almost completely. Yet, as its capacity of being eluted from red blood cells was retained, a sample of low I/A ratio could be produced, but the indicator virus was hard to obtain.
Regardless of the kinds of media in which the virus is suspended, its hemolytic activity disappears by about 2 hours heating process. As stated above, the red blood cell agglutinating activity and eluting activity of the virus can be protected by certain kinds of media in which it is suspended, but with regard to its hemolytic activity, the case is different. It is evident, therefore, that the hemolytic activity is in no way related to the CCA activity or eluting activity.
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