Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and T lymphocytes were infected with measles virus (MV) and cultured with a protein kinase C (PKC) activator, PMA and a calcium ionophore, ionomycin. After stimulation, cell viability and incorporation of 5-bromo-2'- deoxyuridine (BrdU) were decreased in MV-infected cells compared with mock-infected cells. DNA content analysis and terminal deoxytransferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP nick end labelling demonstrated that the hypodiploid fraction and DNA fragmentation were increased in MV-infected, T lymphocytes activated with PMA plus ionomycin. These data suggest that MV induces apoptotic cell death in cells activated by PMA plus ionomycin. In contrast to stimulation with PMA plus ionomycin, mitogenic stimulation with phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) did not induce apoptotic cell death in MV-infected cells, although cell proliferation was suppressed. Apoptosis induced in stimulated, MV-infected cells may be one mechanism of immunosuppression.