Electrokinetic Change in Human Erythrocytes During Adsorption and Elution of PR8 Influenza Virus.∗

Conclusions The electrophoretic mobility of human type O erythrocytes was found to decrease from 1.32 to 0.5-0.6 μ/sec./v./cm in the presence of 0.311 to 16.9 μg/ml of a highly purified preparation of the PR8 strain of influenza virus. Adsorption and elution of the virus, and agglutination of the erythrocytes was found to be concurrent with the decrease in electrophoretic mobility of the erythrocytes. The time of intimate contact of virus with cells and the pattern of decrease of electrophoretic mobility are not only interdependent but also dependent upon the concentration of added virus. At the optimal ratio of virus to erythrocytes, as determined by the mobility and titration curves, it has been calculated that only 1/80 of the erythrocytic surface is covered by virus particles and that this value corresponds to about 298 PR8 virus particles to one erythrocyte.