Edmonston-B vaccine strain of measles virus (MV-Edm) replicates selectively in myeloma cells and induces potent cytopathic effects.

The ARH-77 myeloma cell line, human primary myeloma cells, and PHA-stimulated PBLs were infected with MV-eGFP (MOI, 1.0), photographed, and stained with trypan blue 96 hours later. The white arrow indicates a fluorescent syncytium, and the pink arrow indicates a single infected fluorescent cell. (A) At 48 hours after infection, the viable MV-infected ARH-77 cells and primary myeloma cells are identifiable as large fluorescent syncytia because of GFP expression under blue light. (B) Phase contrast reveals that at 96 hours after infection, many syncytia in the ARH-77 and primary myeloma cultures have died and lost the ability to exclude trypan blue. In comparison, MV-Edm replication in PHA-stimulated PBLs is restricted, and cytopathic effects are minimal.