Interaction of Rubella Virus with Human Immune Cells I. Permissiveness of Lymphocyte Subpopulations

The ability of rubella virus to infect and replicate in various lymphocyte subpopulations was examined. Purified populations of B–cells, CD4+ T–cells and CD8+ T–cells were found to support high levels of viral replication. In addition, when mixed PBMC were infected in vitro, viral antigen was shown to be expressed on the surfaces of CD4+ and CD6+ T–cells by flow cytometry indicating that RV does not have a selective tropism for a specific type of lymphoreticular cell.