Relationship between integrated and nonintegrated viral DNA in rat cells transformed by polyoma virus

Fischer rat fibroblasts transformed by polyoma virus contain, in addition to viral sequences integrated into the host genome, nonintegrated viral DNA molecules, whose presence is under the control of the viral A gene. To understand the mechanism of production of the "free" viral DNA, we have characterized the DNA species produced by several rat lines transformed by wild-type virus or by ts-a polyoma virus and compared them with the integrated viral sequences. Every cell line tested yielded a characteristic number of discrete species of viral DNA. The presence of defectives was a very common occurrence, and these molecules generally carried deletions mapping in the viral "late" region. The production of multiple species of free viral DNA was not due to heterogeneity of the transformed rat cell population, and its pattern did not change upon fusion with permissive mouse cells. Analysis of the integrated viral DNA sequences in the same cell lines showed, in most cases, a full head-to-tail tandem arrangement of normal-size and defective molecules. The free DNA produced by these lines faithfully reflected the integrated species. This was true also in the case of a cell line which contained a viral insertion corresponding to approximately 1.3 polyoma genomes, with each of the repeated portions of the viral DNA molecule carrying a different-size deletion. These results support the hypothesis that the free DNA derives from the integrated form through a mechanism of homologous recombination leading to excision and limited replication.     

A correlation between membrane fluidity and the critical temperature for cell adhesion

BHK 21 cells can adhere to a protein-coated plastic dish in the presence of Ca2+ at temperatures above 12 degrees C. However, they cannot adhere below 8 degrees C. The ESR spectrum of cells spin-labeled with a stearic acid label indicated that the membrane fluidity changed characteristically at 10 degrees C, 20 degrees C, and 30 degrees C. The critical temperature for cell adhesion coincided well with one of the characteristic temperatures for the membrane fluidity change. In the case of adhesion in the presence of Mg2+, no such correlation was observed.     

Changes in the cell surface architecture in normal and polyoma virus transformed hamster cells after infection with influenza virus

Test of Con A induced cell agglutination, method of binding cells to Con A coated nylon fibres and modified procedure of cell-to-cell binding were used in the investigation of architectural surface changes in normal and polyoma virus transformed hamster cells infected with influenza virus. In both cell types influenza virus infection caused 1) increase in fixation resistant Con A agglutination, 2) decrease in the level of surface membrane fluidity and cell plasticity. It has postulated that influenza virus infection results in stabilization of the cell surface architecture. These changes are amplified by polyoma virus transformation. Con A acts in this system, as an indicator rather than as a modifier of architectural changes.     

Multiple forms of polyoma virus tumor antigens from infected and transformed cells.

At least three distinct forms of polyoma virus tumor antigens were isolated from productively infected and transformed hamster cells by immunoprecipitation with anti-T serum. These proteins had approximate molecular weights of 105,000 (large T antigen), 63,000 (middle T antigen), and 20,000 (small T antigen) as estimated by acrylamide gel electrophoresis. An examination of the appearance of these antigens in polyoma-infected mouse cells showed that all three polypeptides were synthesized maximally at approximately the same time after infection. Analysis of the methionine-containing tryptic peptides of these proteins indicated that the large, middle, and small forms of polyoma T antigens contained five similar or identical peptides. In addition, the 63,000- and 20,000-dalton antigens contained two other methionine peptides absent from the large T-antigen species. Other methionine peptides were found only in the large or middle T-antigen forms. These results and results obtained previously suggested that the three T-antigen species have the same NH2-terminal end regions but different COOH termini. A model is presented describing the synthesis of these polypeptides from different regions of the polyoma virus genome.     

State and organization of polyoma virus DNA sequences in transformed rat cell lines.

Polyoma virus-transformed rat cell lines were isolated as colonies growing in agar after infection of F2408 cells with low multiplicities of wild-type virus. Viral DNA present in the transformed cells was analyzed by fractionating the cellular DNA on agarose gels before and after digestion with various restriction endonucleases, followed by detection of the DNA fragments containing viral sequences using the procedure described by Southern (E. Southern, J. Mol. Biol., 98:503--515, 1975). Five lines, independently derived, were studied in detail. All five lines, when examined after a minimum number of passages in culture, contained both free and apparently integrated viral DNA. The free polyoma DNA in three of the lines was indistinguishable, by restriction enzyme analysis, from wild-type viral DNA, whereas the two other lines also contained smaller free DNA molecules which lacked parts of the wild-type genome. The integrated DNA in the five lines studies existed as head-to-tail tandem repeats of unit-length polyoma DNA covalently attached to nonviral DNA. The same five polyoma-transformed rat lines were examined after further passage in culture. Free viral DNA was then either undetectable or greatly reduced in amounts, whereas the high-molecular-weight, integrated units persisted after passage of the cells. The subclones, derived from one of the five lines selected for detailed analysis, showed some variations in the quantity and size of the free viral DNA as well as minor alterations in the pattern of the apparently integrated sequences.     

Characterization of phosphatidylthreonine in polyoma virus transformed fibroblasts.

A threonine phospholipid in polyoma virus-transformed hamster embryo fibroblasts has been characterized as phosphatidylthreonine. The identification has been made by chemical and enzymatic hydrolysis. Acid hydrolysis of the phospholipid produces free threonine. Mild alcoholysis produces a water-soluble derivative having the properties of glycerophosphorylthreonine. Hydrolysis with phospholipase C produces phosphorylthreonine which on prolonged acid hydrolysis yields threonine. Phosphatidylthreonine in the cell is more accessible to reaction with fluorodinitrobenzene than is phosphatidylserine. Phosphatidylthreonine also has been found as a major aminophospholipid in two other polyoma-transformed hamster cell lines and in the BHK-21/C13 line including the PVT-3 and TS-3 lines. the latter derived from BHK cells. Only a trace amount of phosphatidylthreonine occurs in normal liver, kidney and spleen of the adult mouse, in normal liver and kidney of the adult hamster, in whole mouse and hamster embryos, and in mouse 3T3 cells and SV40-transformed 3T3 cells.     

A possible role of cholesterol in membrane adhesion

Calcium phosphate induced membrane aggregation was studied for erythrocyte vesicles and lipid membrane vesicles. The later lipid membrane components were similar in composition to those of erythrocyte membranes. The presence of an appropriate amount of cholesterol is an important factor in the production of the calcium phosphate dependent membrane aggregation.     

Regulation of the microfilament system in normal and polyoma virus transformed cultured (BHK) cells

The content and state of actin in baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells before and after transformation with polyoma virus were examined by deoxyribonuclease assay and gel electrophoresis followed by dye elution. The actin content of the transformed cells, relative to total cell protein, was lower than that of the normal cells by 30-50%. In both the normal and transformed cells the greater part of the total actin was found on lysis to be in the monomeric state. Cytoplasmic and membrane fractions of the two cell lines were, in qualitative terms, very similar in their protein compositions. The plasma membrane isolated from the transformed cells was richer in actin than that from the untransformed, and both membrane fractions contained proteins corresponding to myosin, filamin and alpha-actinin on SDS-polyacrylamide gels. The cell extract from both the normal and transformed lines formed an actin-based gel on incubation at 30 degrees C, although the amount of the cross-linked actin was much smaller in the latter. This was a consequence not only of the lower concentration of total actin in the cell, but also, presumably, of a gross relative deficiency in the concentration or activity of filament cross-linking protein(s) in the cytoplasm. Thus, small aliquots of cytoplasmic fractions from transformed cells, when added to an excess of exogenous F-actin, were able to cross-link the filaments to a much smaller extent than those from the normal cells. A similar range of proteins was found to be associated with the actin gels formed from both cell extracts. One conspicuous difference was that a species migrating in SDS-gel electrophoresis as a doublet with a subunit molecular weight of about 58,000, and tentatively identified as intermediate filament protein, was replaced in the transformed cells by a single band. Filament cross-linking activity of the cytoplasmic fractions was enhanced by addition of Triton extracts of crude membranes, although the latter were not capable of cross-linking exogenous F-actin on their own. The effect of Triton extracts was much greater in the case of membranes from the transformed cells. The cytoplasmic fractions of BHK cells contain capping protein(s) and/or complexes of such proteins with actin; these reveal themselves by the propensity of the extracts to nucleate polymerization of exogenous G-actin. This activity was more abundant in transformed cells, despite their lower actin content. Their membranes were also more effective in nucleating G-actin polymerization, indicating the presence of a greater number of filament ends.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)