Shutoff of HeLa cell protein synthesis by encephalomyocarditis virus and poliovirus: a comparative study

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Abstract
Previous experimental results suggested that poliovirus and encephalomyocarditis (EMC) virus employ very different mechanisms for shutting off host protein synthesis. This conclusion is suspect, inasmuch as different cell types were used for the 2 viruses; hence the apparent mechanistic differences might be specific for cell type and not virus type. To test this possibility shutoff mechanisms in poliovirus- and EMC virus-infected HeLa [human cervical carcinoma] cells were compared. Striking differences were seen: poliovirus-induced shutoff was much more rapid and extensive than that induced by EMC virus; relative translation rates of certain host proteins were inhibited to different extents by the 2 viruses; initiation factors prepared from poliovirus-infected cells were specifically defective for translation of capped mRNA in vitro, whereas those from EMC virus-infected cells were not. EMC virus and poliovirus employ different mechanisms for the shut-off of HeLa cell protein synthesis.