Sodium and Potassium Transport in Herpes Simplex Virus-infected Cells

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Abstract
Na+ and K+ flux in African green monkey kidney cells (Vero) was examined following infection by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). A decline in the rate of K+ uptake at 5 h post-infection was shown using 86Rb+ as a K+ tracer. Host protein synthesis was inhibited by 3 h post-infection. The decrease in rate of K+ transport to levels 70-90% of that of mock-infected cells did not reflect an inability of HSV-1-infected cells to maintain normal intracellular concentrations of Na+ and K+. At 7 h post-infection, intracellular Na+ and K+ concentrations were determined to be 26.6 .+-. 9.4 mM- and 33.3 .+-. 10.3 mM-Na+ and 130.1 .+-. 4.7 mM- and 137.1 .+-. 3.2 mM-K+ in mock-infected and HSV-1-infected cells respectively. Intracellular Na+ did not increase above control levels over at least a 9 h period following HSV-1 infection. Km of K+ transport in HSV-1-infected or mock-infected Vero cells at 6 h post-infection was determined to be the same with calculated values of 1.38 .+-. 0.51 mM and 1.79 .+-. 0.42 mM, respectively. A virus-induced alteration of intracellular Na+ and K+ concentrations cannot, therefore, account for the HSV-1-induced inhibition of host protein synthesis at 3 h post-infection as has been suggested in other virus systems.