Replication of Wild-Type and Mutant Human Cytomegalovirus in Life-Extended Human Diploid Fibroblasts

A cDNA encoding the catalytic subunit of human telomerase was used to generate life-extended derivatives of primary human diploid fibroblasts. The life-extended cells supported efficient human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) replication. A subclone of the life-extended cells was generated containing the HCMV UL82 gene and used to isolate and propagate a virus that exhibited a profound growth defect after infection at a low input multiplicity.