We studied the interaction of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) with umbilical vein endothelial cells infected with herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1. PMNs labeled with 51Cr were added to endothelial monolayers at varying times after infection and their adherence assessed 1 h later. Granulocyte adherence (GA) to uninfected cells averaged 26.5 +/- 1.9%. Increased adherence began 6 h postinfection and rose to a maximum at 20 to 24 h. HSV-1 glycoproteins seemed to mediate the increase in GA: tunicamycin treatment of infected monolayers for 18 h abolished the increased GA as did incubation of infected cells with F(ab')2 fragments prepared from human antiserum containing HSV-1 antibody.