Chemical enhancement of tumor immunogenicity

C57BL/6 spleen cells immunized in vitro against syngeneic methylcholanthrene-induced sarcoma cells(MC-1 cells) modified with various chemical reagents show cytotoxic activity against unmodified MC-1 cells in a short-term 51Cr release assay, whereas unmodified MC-1 cells are nonimmunogenic. The effector cells cross-react widely with many other fibroblastic and epithelioid tumors, even those that are not H-2 matched, as well as with some nonneoplastic cells. Priming mice in vivo with a hapten leads to enhanced anti-tumor cytotoxicity developed by spleen cells from these mice immunized in vitro against tumor cells modified with the same hapten. Cytotoxic activity is largely, but not completely, removed by treatment with anti-theta serum and C. The existence of suppressor cells that can inhibit an anti-tumor response is demonstrasted in in vitro immunizations of mixtures of spleen cells from normal mice and mice primed with mitomyhcin-treated tumor cells, the latter suppressing the former.

Responses of mouse spleen morphology to the growth of subcutaneously injected virally transformed cells

The changes in the fractional volume of six structural components in the spleens of Balb/C mice injected with Herpes simplex virus Type 2-transformed cells (H238 tumor cells) were quantitated during progressive tumor growth. Spleen stereology was performed at three time intervals during the early stages of tumor development. The results revealed that the volume of the compact myeloid tissue and reaction center of lymphoid nodules increased about four- to five-fold from 10 to 33 days after H238 tumor cell injection. A progressive increase was also seen in the red pulp volume. Although an increase in volume of the marginal zones around the lymphoid nodules was evident early during the test period, by day 33 the mean value was similar to the control value. These results indicate that the spleen undergoes significant morphological changes in three splenic components during progressive growth of a tumor produced by subcutaneous injection of a virally-transformed cell line.

Silica-induced malignant histiocytic lymphoma: incidence linked with strain of rat and type of silica

It has already been established that a single intrapleural inoculation of crystalline silica (quartz) produces malignant lymphomas of histiocytic type (MLHT) in Wistar-derived rats. It has now been shown that after treatment with Min-U-Sil, rats of the Alderley Park strain have a tumour incidence of 35%, whereas the incidence in Agus rats is 5% and in PVG 8%. There was also a significant difference in the incidence of MLHT caused by injecting different samples of crystalline silica, particularly of tridymite. There was correlation between cytotoxicity to mouse peritoneal macrophages and tumour incidence, except for one dust (DQ12). Zeta potential, number of particles and their size range were considered, but the incidence does not show a clear correlation with these measurements. The results are discussed.

Bone tumours induced in rats with radioactive cerium

A technique is described for the induction of metastasizing bone tumours in rats by local inoculation of 144cerium. Bone sarcomas develop in 90% of the animals and 74% of these had lung metastases. The tumours can be easily cultured and maintained by serial transplantations. Preliminary data of clinical, histological and kinetic characteristics of these bone tumours are given.

Effects of gonadectomy on foreign-body tumorigenesis in CBA/H mice

Sarcomas were induced by sc implantation of unplasticized polyvinylchloride-vinylacetate films in gonadectomized and normal male and female CBA/H mice. Gonadectomy did not demonstrably influence tumor incidence and tumor latencies in males but significantly prolonged tumor latencies in females. The results suggest that estrogen influences the pace of foreign-body tumorigenesis in CBA/H mice.

A new mouse tumor model system (RIF-1) for comparison of end-point studies

A new tumor model system (RIF-1) was developed that is very suitable for studies in which clonogenic survival is compared with growth delay and control probability following various forms of treatment. The tumor was a radiation-induced sarcoma in the inbred female C3H/Km mouse. It had a low median tumor dose, had a satisfactory plating efficiency direct from in vivo to in vitro, was nonimmunogenic or minimally immunogenic, and metastasized only at a relatively advanced stage of growth. The cell line grew either as a monolayer on plastic dishes, as tumor spheroids in spinner culture, as lung nodules following injection of a single-cell suspension into the tail veins of syngeneic mice, or as a solid tumor. Both diploid and tetraploid clonogenic cells were found in monolayer cultures of the RIF-1 line.

Role of the spleen in spontaneous reticulum cell sarcoma of (C57BL/Cne x C3H/Cne)F1 mice

(C57BL/Cne x C3H/Cne)F1 mice were splenectomized at 3, 9, or 19 months of age (males) or at 4 months of age (females) and observed until spontaneous death. Their mean lifespans were only slightly increased by splenectomy, but the final incidence of and age-specific death rate from reticulum cell sarcoma (RCS) were significantly decreased; the latter effect was associated with prolonged latency times of neoplastic expression. Splenectomized females had a more pronounced decrease in incidence of and rate of death from RCS than did males. Lethally irradiated male mice were inoculated with isogeneic spleen cells from young (3 mo of age) or old (12-18 mo of age) untreated male donors, and the animals surviving acute radiation effects were also observed until spontaneous death. In spite of the fact that the mean life-spans of the spleen-repopulated animals were slightly shortened, age-specific death rate analysis showed that the rate of RCS incidence approached that of untreated controls of comparable ages. The combined results of splenectomy and spleen cell transplantation strongly indicated that some cells in the spleens of these mice have a high probability of being transformed into potentially neoplastic progenitor cells with long latency between cell transformation and overt tumor growth.

Analysis of the src gene of sarcoma viruses generated by recombination between transformation-defective mutants and quail cellular sequences

Tumors were produced in quails about 2 months after injection with a transformation-defective mutant of the Schmidt-Ruppin strain of Rous sarcoma virus, subgroup A (SR-A), that retains a small portion of the src gene. Sarcoma viruses were isolated from each of five such tumors. A transformation-defective mutant which has a nearly complete deletion of the src gene was unable to induce tumors. The avian sarcoma viruses recovered from quail tumors (rASV-Q) had biological properties similar to those of the avian sarcoma viruses previously acquired from chicken tumors (rASV-C); these chicken tumors had been induced by the same transformation-defective mutants. Both rASV-Q and rASV-C transformed cells in culture with similar focus morphology and produced tumors within 7 to 14 days after injection into chickens or quails. The size of rASV-Q genomic RNA was indistinguishable from that of SR-A by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The sequences of rASV-Q RNA genomes were analyzed and compared with those of the parental transformation-defective virus, SR-A and of rASV-C by RNase T1 fingerprinting and oligonucleotide mapping. We found that the src sequences of all five isolates of rASV-Q were identical to each other but different from those of SR-A and rASV-C. Of 13 oligonucleotides of rASV-Q identified as src specific, two were not found in either SR-A or rASV-C RNA. Furthermore, some oligonucleotides present in SR-A or rASV-C or both were absent in rASV-Q. No differences were found for the sequences outside the src region in any of the viruses examined. In addition, rASV-Q-infected cells possessed a 60,000-dalton protein specifically precipitable by rabbit serum raised against SR-D-induced tumors. The facts that the src sequences are essentially the same for rASV's recovered from one animal species and different for rASV's obtained from different species provide conclusive evidence that cellular sequences of normal birds were inserted into the viral genome and supplied to the resulting recombinant viruses genetic information for cell transformation.

Sarcomas induced by injection of simian virus 40 into neonatal CFW mice

Sarcomas were induced in CFW mice by the iv inoculation of simian virus 40 (SV40) in neonatal animals. Infection with murine malaria parasites, Plasmodium berghei yoelli, decreased the latency and increased the incidence and invasiveness of the tumors. All mice given both SV40 and P. berghei yoelli had sarcomas of the liver and spleen at 9 months of age. At 11 months of age, 70% of the SV40-inoculated mice had sarcomas of the liver indistinguishable from those in the group given both pathogens. Only 1 lung metastasis was seen in the SV40-treated group. The sarcomas contained SV40 T-antigen as revealed by the indirect immunofluorescence technique. Among adult CFW mice given iv injections of SV40, only 2 tumors were found at 11 or 12 months after virus inoculation. Both tumors were in the lungs; 1 was an adenoma and 1 was a papillary adenocarcinoma. Neither gave a positive reaction with the immunofluorescence test.

Enhancement of experimental tumors in mice by treatment with concanavalin A

Weanling BALB/c mice given injections of 300 micrograms concanavalin A (Con A) prior to and at frequent intervals after challenge with Moloney murine sarcoma virus (M-MuSV), 3-methylcholanthrene (MCA), or TEPC-15 plasmacytoma cells showed an enhancement of tumor induction or development. With the M-MuSV and MCA systems, this enhancement was evidenced by larger tumors and, in the MCA system, by more devastating tumors. Regression of the M-MuSV-induced tumors was more prolonged in Con A-treated mice. With the TEPC-15 system, enhancement was evidenced by a more rapid mortality rate in treated animals.

Induction of sarcomas in nude mice by implantation of Syrian hamster fetal cells exposed in vitro to nickel subsulfide

In vitro exposure of Syrian hamster fetal cells to nickel subsulfide (alpha Ni3S2) yielded positive colony assays for morphological transformation. A dose-response relationship was found between the concentration of alpha Ni3S2 and the incidence of morphological transformation. Exposures of alpha Ni3S2 induced morphological transformation at concentrations (0.1 or 1.0 microgram/ml of culture medium) which did not impair cell plating efficiency. Nickel monosulfide (NiS) did not induce morphological transformation of Syrian hamster fetal cells under the same conditions. Clones of alpha Ni3S2-transformed cells were able to grow in soft agar medium and demonstrated increased basal and induced activities of ornithine decarboxylase. Undifferentiated sarcomas developed in 26 of 27 nude mice at the site of s.c. injection of clones of alpha Ni3S2-transformed cells. No tumors developed in 19 control nude mice which were given s.c. injections of nontransformed Syrian hamster fetal cells which had not been exposed to alpha Ni3S2. This study demonstrates that fetal cells which undergo transformation following exposure to alpha Ni3S2 are capable of producing malignant tumors in nude mice.

Analysis of chromosomes, nucleic acids, and polypeptides in hamster cells transformed by herpes simplex virus type 2

Syrian hamster embryo fibroblasts were oncogenically transformed by UV-inactivated Herpes simplex type 2. Eighteen clones were isolated shortly after transformation occurred. Two clones and their tumor derivatives were studied using several techniques. The karyotype analysis revealed different chromosome patterns in the two clones and a tendency toward hypodiploidy in the tumor derivatives. All of these cell lines were shown by molecular hybridization to contain 40% of the HSV-genome in several copies. The viral DNA sequence complexity was retained in the tumor derivatives, but a decrease in the copy number was observed. Viral RNA's were detected by in situ hybridization in all the lines that were tested. Viral antigens could be observed in these transformed cells by immunofluorescence. Finally, polypeptide analysis showed three differences between normal and transformed cells.

Reticulum cell neoplasms induced in C57BL/6 mice by cultured virus grown in stromal hematopoietic cell lines

Thirty-one adherent cell lines have been established from the spleens, lymph nodes, and bone marrow of C57BL/6 mice carrying radiation leukemia virus (Duplan isolate)-induced reticulum cell neoplasms (RCN). The cell lines had a stable epithelial or fibroblastoid morphology, Supernatant virus from these lines induced splenic and lymph node RCN in 100% of inoculated C57BL/6 mice within 30 days. The disease was generalized and involved many organs. The monolayer cells themselves were not tumor cells and induced RCN through infection of the host with RCN virus. Simultaneous inoculation of in vitro-grown RCN-inducing virus any thymic lymphosarcoma virus induced each disease independently with unaltered incidence, latency period, and organ involvement; no mutual enhancement or inhibition was found, thus two separate mechanisms of action were indicated. Reextraction of the viruses from spleen, lymph nodes, and thymus gland indicated the specific organotropism of each agent. All the adherent cell lines that were derived from hematopoietic tissues produced ample, potent RCN-inducing virus. This high success rate suggests that in the hematopoietic organs the stromal, fibroblastoid cells are a natural habitat for the RCN-inducing virus. The RCN-inducing virus species may well be synthesized in these hematopoietic stromal cells. RCN-inducing virus from culture supernatants contained high-titer infectious ecotropic and xenotropic virus that was titrated. The cultures are being used to clone the RCN-inducing virus and to establish the virologic and molecular properties that endow it with specific RCN-inducing capacity.

Cells transformed by temperature-sensitive mutants of avian sarcoma virus cause tumors in vivo at permissive and nonpermissive temperatures

Chick embryo (CE) fibroblasts and normal rat kidney (NRK) cells transformed by temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants of avian sarcoma virus (NY68, LA23, LA24, LA25, LA29, LA31, GI201, GI202, GI251, GI253 induce tumors on the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) of chick eggs at temperatures that correspond to the permissive and nonpermissive temperatures used to induce conditional expression of the "transformed" phenotype in these cells when cultured in vitro. Chick embryo cells infected with transformation-defective mutants of ASV (td101, td108) or RAV-50 were nontumorigenic under the same conditions, as were nontransformed CE and NRK cells. This indicates that the CAM is not an unusually susceptible substrate for cell growth and that the ability of tsASV-transformed cells to form tumors at nonpermissive temperatures reflects their true tumorigenicity. In contrast, a ts mutant chemically transformed rat liver cell line, ts-223, only formed tumors on the CAM under permissive conditions. The wild-type parent cells (W-8) of this mutant produced tumors at both permissive and nonpermissive temperatures. Direct implantation of microprobe thermometers into tumors caused by ts-ASV-transformed cells at nonpermissive temperatures confirmed that tumor formation occurred in a stable temperature environment and was not due to temperature fluctuations which might have created semi-permissive conditions for tumor growth. Cells isolated from tumors formed at nonpermissive temperatures and recultured in vitro displayed temperature-dependent hexose transport and colony formation in agar similar to the orginal parent cell inoculum. Similarly, virus recovered from tumors at nonpermissive temperatures retained the ts mutation.