Syncytium formation of virally expressed MeV-Hs.

Vero/hSLAM cells were infected with recombinant MeV expressing the indicated MeV-H. Syncytia size was measured 24 hours post transfection. Statistical significance (*P < .05; ***P < .001) was calculated by one-way ANOVA with post-hoc Tukey multiple comparisons. Differences in syncytia formation were significant between MeV-H from SSPE cases and genotype A when other wild-type genotypes were excluded from the analysis (A vs B). C, Protein composition of virus stocks. Recombinant MeVvac2(GFP)N (10⁴ plaque-forming units) possessing SSPE-specific MeV-H protein were immunoblotted with antibodies against MeV-N, MeV-H (anti-cytoplasmic and anti-globular head), MeV-F, and GFP proteins. Protein intensity was determined using a ChemiDoc Imaging System (Bio-Rad), with the MeV genotype A, set to 1, used as the comparator. Note that similar levels of MeV-H are detected when anti-cytoplasmic tail–specific antibodies are used but not when antibodies against the variable MeV-H globular are used.