On the continuous culturing of B.95-8 cells in the presence of phosphonoacetic acid.
Lymphoblastoid B.95-8 cells were cultured for four months and three weeks in the presence of increasing concentrations (50--200 microgram/ml) of phosphonoacetic acid (PAA). Several weeks after removal of the PAA, the cultures, in parallel with untreated B.95-8 cells, were tested for the presence of: 1) Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) viral capsid antigen (VCA), and b) transformation of human cord blood lymphocytes. There was no difference in the percentage of cells exhibiting VCA in the B.95-8 PAA treated and untreated cells. However, transformation assays indicated 10 times less transforming virus in culture supernatant harvested from B.95-8 cultures treated with PAA, as compared with the control cultures. Electron microscopic studies indicated the presence of virus particles in B.95-8 control cells and their almost complete absence in the PAA-treated cells.