Murine sarcoma virus related nucleic acid sequences in a non-transforming virus derived from an interspecies pseudotype sarcoma virus

A number of sarcomagenic viruses recovered from hamster tumors induced originally by Moloney sarcoma virus or several of its mouse pseudotypes appear to be interspecies pseudotypes with structural proteins of hamster type-C viruses and nucleic acid sequences of both mouse and hamster specificity. A non-transforming virus (GLOH-minus) recovered from a sarcomagenic virus preparation obtained from a tumor induced by the Gross pseudotype of Moloney sarcoma virus was previously shown to retain mouse sequences. The ability to discriminate readily between Gross and Moloney viruses by molecular hybridization, especially with regard to thermal stability of inter-strain hybrid molecules, and the stability of Moloney virus sequences in a rat-mouse interspecies pseudotype, made it possible to specify that the mouse virus-specific sequences in GLOH-minus are derived from Moloney virus and not Gross. Thus, even though GLOH-minus is non-transforming in vitro or in vivo, it still retains sequences highly related to Moloney sarcoma virus. The lack of transforming ability is thus probably based on loss or change of specific sequences necessary for transformation at some point in the history of this virus.

Murine virus-induced proteins synthesized by hamster tumor cells transformed by, but not producing, murine sarcoma virus

The 8303 hamster tumor cells transformed by Moloney strain of murine sarcoma virus (M-MSV), but which do not produce virus, do contain murine virus-induced proteins. The virus-induced proteins within the cell were identified either as free proteins or in association with membranous material, including the plasma membrane. In addition, some were excreted by the 8303 hamster tumor cells into the growth medium. Most virus-induced proteins were larger than 68,000 daltons, and they did not dissociate into components of smaller size in the presence of detergent and a reducing agent. A small amount of virus-induced protein with a molecular weight of less than 20,000 was also found in the hamster tumor cells. No virus-specific proteins with the identical antigenic specificity or size of the major internal group specific antigen (molecular weight about 30,000) of the murine leukemia viruses were present in these cells. There is a common cell surface antigen present in three other tumor cell lines, both virus-producing and non-virus-producing, identical in reactivity to that of the murine virus-induced antigen of the 8303 hamster tumor cell. This antigen is not present on the cell surface of normal mouse embryo cells.