Generation of thymotropic envelope gene recombinant virus and induction of lymphoma by ecotropic Moloney murine leukemia virus

The Moloney murine leukemia virus enhancer and its flanking sequences collaborate to determine virulence in T-cell lymphomagenesis

A panel of recombinant virus genomes was constructed by exchanging homologous genome fragments between the potent T-cell lymphoma inducer Moloney murine leukemia virus (MoMuLV) and its closely related but significantly less virulent relative MoMuLV-TB. Testing of these recombinant viruses in BALB/c mice established that only nucleotide changes within the Clal(-590)-Kpnl(36) fragment altered virulence. Fine analysis of this fragment showed that while mutations within the enhancer of MoMuLV-TB attenuated the latency period most, mutations within the MoMuLV-TB fragments flanking the enhancer also helped reduce the virulence of MoMuLV. The present study also suggests that the small difference in the relative number of lymphomas that developed primarily in the spleens of MoMuLV- or MoMuLV-TB-infected mice may correlate with nucleotide differences between the Clal-Kpnl fragments of the two viruses. However, the significantly greater proportion of premature death observed in MoMuLV-TB-relative to MoMuLV-infected mice could not be correlated with nucleotide differences in a specific genome fragment.

A single mutation in one of the CORE elements of Moloney murine leukemia virus reduced binding of a 42-kDa T lymphoma cell nuclear factor but did not affect lymphomagenesis

The genetic determinant responsible for virulence in Moloney murine leukemia virus (MoMuLV) induced T-cell lymphomagenesis has recently been mapped [J Virol 63:471-480, 1989] by homologous genomic fragment exchange between MoMuLV and MoMuLV-TB to the Clal/Xbal at the 3' end of the genome. This region of MoMuLV and MoMuLV-TB differs in 11 nucleotides. Of these 11 nucleotide differences, 9 are distributed within the two CORE, the two distal NF1, and the two GRE/LVa elements of the enhancer. Since both the CORE binding sites of MoMuLV-TB are mutated with respect to those of MoMuLV, we compared nuclear proteins of a thymus-bone marrow cell line and a T-lymphoma cell line (EMT), which bind to the wild-type and mutant CORE binding sites. Using both the bandshift assay and southwestern analysis with labeled synthetic deoxyoligonucleotides, we showed that a 42-kDa protein from TB and EMT cells bound specifically to the MoMuLV CORE element. The T----C transversion of nucleotide 6 of the CORE consensus, TGTGGT/CTAA, significantly reduced binding of the 42-kDa TB and EMT cell factors. However, the transversion of nucleotide 3 from T----C had little effect on the binding of the 42-kDa protein to the CORE element. In addition, the 42-kDa protein bound weakly to the CCAAT element of MoMuLV. A recombinant virus, NwtTB-6, was generated by introducing the two CORE mutations of MoMuLV-TB into the MoMuLV genome. Although the latency period of NwtTB-6 in the induction of lymphoma was not significantly different from that of MoMuLV, preliminary findings suggest that the lymphoma induced by NwtTB-6 may be more widely distributed.

Thymotropic envelope gene recombinants of Moloney leukemia virus have highly conserved envelope structures

Envelope gp70s were isolated from the thymotropic recombinant viruses related to Moloney murine leukemia virus (RM-M-MuLVs) which were generated by the inoculation of two strains of ecotropic M-MuLV (strain 1869 and temperature-sensitive mutant-1) into BALB/c or CFW/D mice. Chymotrypsin oligopeptide maps of parental ecotropic MuLV, RM-M-MuLV, and inducible xenotropic MuLV showed each of the above virus types had a distinctly characteristic peptide map. The majority of RM-M-MuLV gp70 molecules examined showed a high degree of peptide homology. Data from restriction endonuclease mapping demonstrated that the newly acquired sequences in each of the RM-M-MuLVs were very related and encompassed both the polymerase and the envelope genes. The source of the sequences acquired by the RM-M-MuLV was from endogenous nonecotropic and nonxenotropic proviruses. This suggested that the family of endogenous proviruses which combined with the parental ecotropic virus was either specifically selected or was much more available than other endogenous proviruses. Although slight variations of envelope-specific sequences and peptides existed among various RM-M-MuLV isolates; within a single thymoma, individual clones of tumor cells yielded RM-M-MuLV gp70s which were identical to each other. These findings are discussed within the context of the leukemogenic potential of RM-MuLVs.