Rat glial C6 cells are defective in murine coronavirus internalization.

Rat C6 glial cells were resistant to infection by several strains of murine coronaviruses. The restriction was not at the adsorption stage, since virus adsorbed to the C6 cells in a similar manner to mouse L cells which supported a lytic infection. The virus could not be internalized by the C6 cells. However, if the virus was introduced into the C6 cells by polyethylene glycol fusion, viral replication occurred and progeny virions were released from the infected cells. These studies indicated that the C6 cells were restrictive to coronavirus replication by preventing the early penetration stage of the viral replicative cycle.