Increased susceptibility of murine teratocarcinoma cells to Simian virus 40 and polyoma virus following treatment with 5-bromodeoxyuridine.

Cultures of the multipotential stem cell, embryonal carcinoma (EC), of a murine teratocarcinoma were treated with 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU). Within 2-4 days at concentrations of 1-50 mugm/ml of BrdU, there was a marked change in the morphology of cells observed by light and electron microscopy. A comparison of the growth potential showed that for up to four days the BrdU-treated cultures were similar to untreated cultures. When these BrdU-treated cells were infected with Simian virus 40 (SV40) and polyoma virus (Py), there was an increase in susceptibility of the treated cells. The untreated embryonal carcinoma cells were refractory. These results suggest that BrdU modifies the embryonal carcinoma cells to allow infection with two DNA viruses.