Determination,by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry,of changes in cellular metal content resulting from herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) infection

Metals and metal-containing compounds are known to play important roles in many biological processes, including metabolic and detoxification pathways and the formation and function of proteins. Like all organisms, viruses are expected to contain different metals. These metals, either by themselves or in the form of metalloproteins, may be involved in the virus’s ability to infect healthy cells and replicate within them. Identification and speciation of metals in control cells and in cells affected by a virus could be helpful in elucidating infection and replication mechanisms; these might, in turn, be vital to the development of more effective treatments. There has, however, been no extensive investigation of the metals specific viruses contain or affect. The objective of this study was to investigate changes in cellular metal content resulting from herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) infection. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was used to identify differences between metal concentrations in uninfected and HSV-1-infected mammalian cells. Although it can be assumed that decreases in metal content are a result of cellular response to the virus, increases can be attributed either to cellular response or to the HSV-1 virus itself. Microwave digestion and flow injection methods suitable for small sample volumes were used, and the effects of different virus inactivation procedures were explored. This work is the first step in the identification of metals pertinent to HSV-1 infection and lays the foundation for future studies concentrating on characterization of these metal-associated or containing molecules.