Transformation parameters and pp60src localization in cells infected with partial transformation mutants of Rous sarcoma virus.

Rous sarcoma virus (RSV)-induced transformation is mediated by the action of the viral src gene product pp60src. This transforming protein is found at several cytoplasmic locations, including the adhesion plaques of RSV-transformed cells. In these studies, we have focused on the adhesion plaque location of pp60src and determined whether any of the induced transformation parameters correlate with the presence of pp60src in the adhesion plaques. A series of partial transformation mutants of RSV that induce distinct transformation phenotypes were used, and infected chicken embryo cells were examined for (i) intracellular pp60src location, (ii) vinculin localization, (iii) abundance of phosphotyrosine on vinculin, (iv) integrity of stress fibers, and (v) expression of cell surface fibronectin. The results indicate that, among the limited number of mutants studied here, the presence of pp60src in adhesion plaques is independent of growth in soft agar and the increased phosphorylation of vinculin on tyrosine, but it does correlate with the loss of cell surface fibronectin. An elevated abundance of phosphotyrosine on vinculin is insufficient to cause stress fiber dissolution and is independent of the loss of fibronectin from the extracellular matrix. However, the increased relative amount of phosphotyrosine on vinculin is related to the ability of the cells to grow in soft agar. The adhesion plaque binding and tyrosine-specific kinase activities seem to represent two independent functions of pp60src.     

Isolation and partial characterization of a monoclonal antibody to the Rous sarcoma virus transforming protein pp60src.

Transformation of cells by Rous sarcoma virus is mediated by the product of the viral src gene, pp60src. A hybridoma cell line producing an immunoglobulin G3 antibody to pp60src was isolated after lymph node cells from immune mice were fused with mouse myeloma cells (P3-NS1-1). Mice were immunized with p60src purified from Escherichia coli cells expressing the src gene product. The monoclonal antibody immunoprecipitated pp60src from Rous sarcoma virus-transformed cells and recognized an antigenic determinant located in the amino-terminal third of the pp60src protein.     

Tumorigenicity of partial transformation mutants of Rous sarcoma virus.

Chicken embryo cells infected with partial transformation mutants of Rous sarcoma virus were tested for tumor-forming ability in chickens and in nude mice. Cells transformed by each of these partial transformation mutants display different combinations of transformation parameters. They therefore present a potentially favorable system for analyzing which properties of transformed cells are necessary for tumor formation. We found that the relative tumorigenicity of the virus mutants was generally similar in chickens and in nude mice, except that certain temperature-conditional mutants appeared to be sensitive to the differences in body temperature of the two experimental animals. (The body temperature of nude mice is 4 to 5 degrees C lower than that of chickens). Thus, the nude mouse appears to be a suitable system for testing the tumorigenicity of transformed chicken cells. Because mice are nonpermissive for Rous sarcoma virus infection and replication, it was possible to recover the transformed chicken cells from the tumors in this host and to determine what phenotypic changes they had undergone during tumor development. We also examined the relationship between various cellular properties of the virus-infected chicken cells in vitro and their tumorigenicity in nude mice. The combined results of these two studies indicated that anchorage independence and plasminogen activator production were highly correlated with the tumor-forming ability of these cells, whereas loss of fibronectin did not correlate with tumorigenicity. Furthermore, the inability of the least tumorigenic virus mutant to stimulate the phosphorylation of a 36,000-Mr target of pp60src raises the possibility that the 36,000-Mr protein plays a role in tumor formation.     

Half-life of the Rous sarcoma virus transforming protein pp60src and its associated kinase activity.

The half-life of metabolically labeled pp60src of the Prague A strain of Rous sarcoma virus and of several transformation-defective, temperature-sensitive mutants was investigated by pulse-labeling infected cells with [35S]methionine, chasing for different times, and immunoprecipitating pp60src with tumor-bearing rabbit serum. These experiments showed that pp60src has a short half-life of approximately 60 min under normal physiological conditions and that the mutant pp60src proteins have similar half-lives to the wild type, irrespective of whether the cells are kept at the nonpermissive (42 degrees C) or permissive (35 degrees C) temperature. The half-life of the pp60src -associated kinase activity was determined by monitoring its decay by the immunoglobulin G heavy chain assay after the cells had been treated with several inhibitors of protein synthesis. In these experiments the kinase half-life was much longer than expected from the half-life of pp60src. The apparent contradiction between the half-lives of the kinase activity and the [35S]methionine-labeled pp60src protein could be resolved by the observation that treatment of cells with inhibitors of protein synthesis stabilized pp60src, resulting in a greatly extended half-life. Inhibitors of protein synthesis also extended the half-life of the gag precursor polypeptide, Pr76, suggesting that a host factor(s) may be required for the efficient intracellular processing of this polypeptide to the gag proteins.     

Monoclonal antibodies to Rous sarcoma virus pp60src react with enzymatically active cellular pp60src of avian and mammalian origin

The derivation and characterization of 22 hybridoma clones producing monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) specific for the transforming protein of Rous sarcoma virus, pp60src, are described. All Mabs reacted with pp60v-src encoded by Prague, Schmidt-Ruppin, and Bratislava 77 strains of Rous sarcoma virus. Of these Mabs, 10 efficiently immunoprecipitated pp60c-src from chicken embryo cells. Of these 10 Mabs, 2 (GD11 and EB8) readily detected pp60c-src from a variety of rodent and human cultured cells and from rat brain tissue in an in vitro immune complex kinase assay. Mapping experiments have tentatively localized the determinant(s) recognized by GD11 and EB8 to a region of the src protein bounded by amino acid residues 82 to 169, whereas the remaining Mabs appeared to recognize determinants residing within residues 1 to 82 or 169 to 173. Most of the Mabs complexed denatured pp60v-src in a Western immunoblot, and several were used to localize pp60v-src in Rous sarcoma virus-transformed chicken embryo cells by indirect immunofluorescence microscopy.     

Monoclonal antibody against the carboxy terminal peptide of pp60src of Rous sarcoma virus reacts with native pp60src.

A monoclonal mouse antibody has been prepared against a synthetic peptide corresponding to the six carboxy-terminal amino acids (C' peptide) of the src gene product pp60v -src of Rous sarcoma virus (RSV). The antibody was able to precipitate pp60v -src and to bind pp60v -src kinase activity in a competition test, indicating that this peptide can serve as an antibody-binding site (epitope). Furthermore, the finding that three out of 28 pp60src-specific tumor-bearing rabbit (TBR) sera contained antibody against the C' peptide argues for an in vivo role for the carboxy terminus of pp60src. C' peptide-specific IgG was purified from one TBR serum using affinity chromatography, and was shown to precipitate significant amounts of pp60src, and bind most of the pp60src kinase activity from SRA, PrA, and B77-C strains of avian sarcoma virus (ASV), but not endogenous pp60c -src, a cellular homologue to the viral pp60v -src. Similar results were obtained with IgG isolated from a C' peptide immune rabbit serum. None of the three C' peptide-specific IgGs could serve as a phosphate acceptor in an immune complex protein kinase reaction.     

Cyclic AMP treatment of Rous sarcoma virus-transformed Chinese hamster ovary cells increases phosphorylation of pp60src and increases pp60src kinase activity

Treatment of growing Rous sarcoma virus-transformed Chinese hamster ovary cells with the cyclic AMP analog 8-bromo-cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (8-bromo-cyclic AMP) stimulates the incorporation of 32Pi into the viral transforming protein pp60src. Based on one-dimensional and two-dimensional peptide analysis and phosphoamino acid analysis, the increase is on a single phosphoserine residue at the NH2 terminus of the protein. The phosphate incorporation increases during the first 4 h of treatment. The pp60src kinase activity in extracts of cells treated with 8-bromo-cyclic AMP was stimulated about 2- to 3-fold. This stimulation of kinase activity increased during the first 3 h of treatment with 1 mM 8-bromo-cAMP and the activity was increased in both the soluble and particulate fraction of the cells. These results suggest that cyclic AMP can modulate the activity of pp60src in transformed cells.     

Cytoskeletal association of pp60src. The transforming protein of the Rous sarcoma virus

Immunoferritin labelling methods have been employed to examine the distribution of the Rous Sarcoma virus (RSV)-transforming protein pp60src in the detergent-resistant cytoskeleton of transformed cells. pp60src was found to be localized on actin microfilaments present in adhesion plaques, at adherens junctions between cells and also in microfilament bundles. This localization is consistent with the hypothesis that some of the morphological effects of transformation result from the interaction in situ of pp60src with microfilament-bound target proteins.     

Evidence the pp60src, the product of the Rous sarcoma virus src gene, undergoes autophosphorylation.

F/St mice are unique in producing high levels of both ecotropic and xenotropic murine leukemia virus. The high ecotropic virus phenotype is determined by three or more V (virus-inducing) loci. A single locus for inducibility of xenotropic murine leukemia virus was mapped to chromosome 1 close to, but possibly not allelic to, Bxv-1. Although the high ecotropic virus phenotype is phenotypically dominant, the high xenotropic virus phenotype was recessive in all crosses tested. Suppression of xenotropic murine leukemia virus is governed by a single gene which is not linked to the xenotropic V locus.     

Amino acid alterations within a highly conserved region of the Rous sarcoma virus src gene product pp60src inactivate tyrosine protein kinase activity.

Bisulfite mutagenesis techniques have been used to introduce single-point mutations within a region of the Rous sarcoma virus src gene defined by a BglI restriction endonuclease cleavage site. The mutants of Rous sarcoma virus that are produced by these techniques encode src proteins which contain single amino acid changes within a highly conserved amino acid sequence encompassing residues 430 to 433. DNA from the mutants CHpm26 ( Ala430 to Val), CHpm9 ( Pro431 to Ser), CHpm6 ( Glu432 to Lys), and CHpm65 ( Ala433 to Thr) each failed to transform chicken cells upon transfection, whereas DNA from CHpm59 (a third base alteration in the codon for Glu432 ) readily transformed chicken cells. Analysis of immune complexes containing the altered src proteins indicates that these proteins have decreased tyrosine protein kinase activity in vitro. In vivo labeling of cells infected with the mutant virus revealed diminished levels of the tyrosine-phosphorylated 34,000-molecular-weight protein. These data indicate that mutations within the sequence Ala430 - Pro431 - Glu432 - Ala433 lead to alterations in pp60src-specific tyrosine protein kinase activity and a concomitant loss of transforming potential of the mutant virus.     

Highly specific antibody to Rous sarcoma virus src gene product recognizes a novel population of pp60v-src and pp60c-src molecules

Antiserum to the Rous sarcoma virus (RSV)-transforming protein, pp60v-src, was produced in rabbits immunized with p60 expressed in Escherichia coli. alpha p60 serum immunoprecipitated quantitatively more pp60v-src than did tumor-bearing rabbit (TBR) sera. When RSV-transformed cell lysates were preadsorbed with TBR serum, the remaining lysate contained additional pp60v-src, which was recognized only by reimmunoprecipitation with alpha p60 serum and not by TBR serum. In subcellular fractions of RSV-infected chicken embryo fibroblasts (RSV-CEFs) and field vole cells probed with TBR serum, the majority of the pp60v-src was associated with the plasma membrane-enriched P100 fraction. However, alpha p60 serum revealed equal distribution of pp60v-src and its kinase activity between the P1 (nuclear) and P100 fractions. The same results were obtained for pp60c-src in uninfected CEFs. On discontinuous sucrose gradients nearly 50% of the P1-pp60v-src sedimented with nuclei, in fractions where no plasma membrane was detected. Indirect immunofluorescence microscopy of RSV-CEFs with alpha p60 serum revealed a distinct pattern of perinuclear fluorescence, in addition to staining at the cell periphery. Thus the use of a highly specific antibody reveals that enzymatically active pp60v-src and pp60c-src molecules are present in other intracellular structures, probably juxtareticular nuclear membranes, in addition to the plasma membrane in normal, uninfected, and wild-type RSV-infected cells.     

Phosphotyrosine-containing proteins and expression of transformation parameters in cells infected with partial transformation mutants of Rous sarcoma virus.

We have examined the phosphorylation state of five proteins known to become phosphorylated on tyrosine during transformation by Rous sarcoma virus by using cells infected with a panel of partially transforming mutant viruses. Situations of viral mutant and growth temperature were found in which phosphorylation of some proteins occurred more extensively than that of others, indicating that mutations in the src gene had affected the specificity of pp60src for some of its substrates as well as affecting the activity of the enzyme. To obtain insight into the biological functions of these phosphorylations, comparisons were made between the degree of phosphorylation of these proteins and the expression of various indicators of the transformed phenotype. The data suggest that phosphorylation of proteins l, p, and q (Mr of 46,000, 39,000 and 28,000, respectively) is not sufficient to induce changes in adhesiveness, hexose transport or morphology. The phosphorylation of protein p or l or total phosphotyrosine content correlated well with the production of plasminogen activator, and the phosphorylation of proteins l and q correlated well with increased hexose transport. However, even when good correlations were observed, significant exceptions were sometimes noted. It thus remains possible that some phosphorylations on tyrosine observed in Rous sarcoma virus-transformed cells are not causally related to the expression of the measured parameters of transformation.     

Cooperative transformation studies with temperature-sensitive mutants of Rous sarcoma virus.

Stocks of Rous sarcoma virus Bryan strain were mutagenized using a bromodeoxyuridine treatment immediately after infection. Thirty temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants defective in transformation (td) were isolated by a replica plating technique. Twenty of these mutants were preliminarily characterized and found to be defective in late functions related to transformation. These mutants were used in experiments of cooperative transformation with four Prague strain td ts mutants of different co-transformation group. A small number of Bryan ts mutants were found to cooperate with some of the Prague mutants in transforming chicken embryo cells at the nonpermissive temperature. However, the amount of co-transformation observed was lower than that observed with cooperating Prague ts mutants and no clear-cut pattern of cotransformation was obtained in Prague and Bryan crosses. Indirect evidence indicates that cooperative transformation is the result of recombination events.     

Transformation-defective mutants of Rous sarcoma virus with src gene deletions of varying length.

The RNAs of transformation-defective (td) deletion mutants of the Schmidt-Ruppin strain of Rous sarcoma virus were found to vary in size when compared by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Three of seven td mutants appeared to recombine with a mutant of Rous sarcoma virus (Schmidt-Ruppin), which has a temperature-sensitive sarcoma (src) gene and is termed ts68, to give rise to recombinants with a reduced temperature sensitivity. The results suggested that different clones of td mutants exist: some in which the src gene appears to be deleted, and others in which the src gene is only partially deleted. A direct correlation between RNA size and the extent of src gene deletion measured by recombination was not obtained, possibly because the recombination assay could only detect src sequences homologous to the lesion(s) of ts68, whereas the electrophoretic analysis of the RNA measured src deletions as well as other possible alterations of the RNA.     

Role of the mitogenic property and kinase activity of p60src in tumor formation by Rous sarcoma virus

Expression of the src gene of Rous sarcoma virus in chicken embryo neuroretinal cells results in morphological transformation and sustained proliferation of this normally resting cell population. PA101 and PA104 are two mutants of Rous sarcoma virus which induce neuroretinal cell proliferation in the absence of morphological transformation. Their mitogenic property is temperature sensitive, and they both encode p60src proteins with low kinase activity. To study the role of the mitogenic function and protein kinase activity of p60src in tumorigenesis, we investigated the oncogenicity of PA101 and PA104. Both mutants were less tumorigenic than wild-type virus when injected into chicks. Tumorigenicity was further assayed by inoculating infected chicken embryo fibroblasts and neuroretinal cells onto the chorioallantoid membrane of embryonated duck eggs. This system provides a nonpermissive and immunodeficient environment for xenogenic cell grafting and allows the study of cell tumorigenicity within a temperature range of 37 to 39.5 degrees C. Chicken embryo fibroblasts and neuroretinal cells infected with PA101 were as tumorigenic as wild type-infected cells at 37 degrees C, but tumor development was significantly reduced at 39.5 degrees C. In contrast, both cell types infected with PA104 displayed sharply reduced tumorigenicity. Cell cultures derived from PA101 tumors induced on the chorioallantoid membrane were similar to the corresponding cells maintained in vitro in terms of morphology, production of plasminogen activator, relative amounts of phosphotyrosine in total cellular proteins, and phosphorylation of 34,000-molecular-weight protein. These results indicate that the expression of the mitogenic function of src does not account per se for cell tumorigenicity and that tumor formation is compatible with low levels of p60src protein kinase activity.     

Phosphorylation of the solubilized insulin receptor by the gene product of the Rous sarcoma virus, pp60src

Both the insulin receptor and the gene product of the Rous sarcoma virus, pp60src, are protein kinases which phosphorylate themselves and other proteins on tyrosine residues. Addition of the solubilized insulin receptor to purified pp60src increased the phosphorylation of the beta-subunit of the insulin receptor. Phosphorylation of the insulin receptor by pp60src occurred both in the absence and presence of insulin but did not alter the insulin dose response for autophosphorylation of the receptor. Increasing concentrations of pp60src increased the phosphorylation of the receptor and at high concentrations equaled the maximal effect produced by insulin. Our observations suggest a possible mechanism by which the metabolically regulated insulin receptor tyrosine kinase could be altered by other tyrosine kinases such as that associated with pp60src. Further studies will be required to determine if the insulin receptor is phosphorylated by pp60src in Rous sarcoma virus-infected cells.     

Temperature-sensitive transformation by Rous sarcoma virus and temperature-sensitive protein kinase activity

The transforming protein of Rous sarcoma virus, p60src, has associated with it a protein kinase activity. We examined whether a correlation exists between the cellular concentration of enzymatically active p60src and the degree to which chick cells are transformed by mutants of Rous sarcoma virus which are temperature-sensitive for transformation. Such a correlation does exist, but cells infected with some mutants could be shown to contain, at the nonpermissive temperature, an amount of protein kinase activity equal to 30 to 40% of that in a wild-type transformed cell. We quantified the amount of virus-induced protein kinase activity by precipitation of p60src with an excess of antitumor antiserum. Our initial measurements of activity were serious underestimates, due to the lability of the protein kinase activity associated with p60src of at least four temperature-sensitive mutants. In fact, no activity at all was associated with p60src of tsLA90 when immunoprecipitation was performed by standard means. However, when immunoprecipitation was performed with procedures which minimize inactivation, it became apparent both that cells transformed by tsLA90 contained protein kinase activity and that cells infected with either NY68 or BK5 contained at the nonpermissive temperature, one-third to one-half as much activity as wild-type transformed cells. This level of activity was much more than that arising from p60sarc in uninfected cells. In uninfected cells we found an amount of protein kinase activity which varied from 3 to 5% as much as that in a virally transformed cell. The lability of the protein kinase activity of each of these mutants is a further demonstration that this activity is essential for the transformation of cells by Rous sarcoma virus. So as to explain the high protein kinase levels in cells infected with NY68 and BK5 at the nonpermissive temperature, the idea that transformation may be a response to a small quantitative change in the total activity of p60src and the possibility that there may be more than one viral function which is essential for transformation are discussed.     

The specific interaction of the Rous sarcoma virus transforming protein, pp60src, with two cellular proteins

Sera from rabbits bearing tumors induced by Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) were previously found to contain antibody to the RSV transforming protein, pp60^src. Two additional transformation-specific phosphoproteins from RSV-transformed avian cells are immunoprecipitated with these sera. These proteins, having molecular weights of 90,000 (pp90) and 50,000 (pp50), are not precipitated from uninfected or transformation-defective virus-infected cells and are not related to any RSV structural proteins. Neither pp50 nor pp90 shares any partial or complete proteolytic cleavage peptides with pp60^src, suggesting that pp90 and pp50 do not represent either a precursor or a cleavage product of pp60^src. Sedimentation analysis of RSV-transformed cell lysates on glycerol gradients revealed that the RSV pp60^src protein is present as two forms, one of which represents the majority (95%) of pp60^src and sediments as a monomer, 60,000 molecular weight protein and the other of which sediments with pp90 and pp50 as an apparent 200,000 molecular weight complex. Lysates from cells transformed by viruses containing a temperature-sensitive defect in the src gene contain a greater percentage of pp60^src associated with pp90 and pp50 under both permissive (35°C) and nonpermissive (41°C) conditions compared to wild-type virus-infected cell lysates. Phosphoserine and phosphotyrosine were found associated with pp60^src molecules that sedimented as a monomer, whereas pp60^src molecules that are complexed with pp90 and pp50 contain phosphoserine and greatly reduced amounts of phosphotyrosine. Only the monomer form of pp60^src is capable of phosphorylating IgG in the immune complex phosphotransferase reaction. Normal uninfected chicken cells contain a protein that shares identical partial proteolytic cleavage peptides with the pp90 protein immunoprecipitated from RSV-transformed cells. This pp90 protein is one of the major cytoplasmic proteins in uninfected cells. Antibody directed against pp90 also immunoprecipitates pp60^src and pp50 from lysates of RSV-transformed chicken cells.     

Characterization of pp60src phosphorylation in vitro in Rous sarcoma virus-transformed cell membranes.

Phosphorylation of the src gene product pp60v-src was studied in plasma membrane fractions prepared from Rous sarcoma virus-transformed vole cells. Upon addition of [gamma-32P]ATP to isolated membrane vesicles, phosphate was incorporated into a 60,000-dalton polypeptide identified as pp60v-src. In the presence of vanadate, pp60v-src phosphorylation was stimulated ca. 30-fold. At low concentrations of ATP (1 microM), this reaction occurred almost exclusively on the carboxy-terminal 26,000-dalton region of pp60v-src. However, at higher ATP concentrations (100 microM), additional sites of phosphorylation were evident in the amino-terminal 34,000-dalton region. Kinetic analyses, performed under conditions in which ATP hydrolysis was minimal, revealed that the phosphorylation reaction at the carboxy terminus exhibited a higher Vmax and a lower Km for ATP than those occurring at the amino terminus. In addition, the amino-terminal region of pp60v-src was more rapidly dephosphorylated than the carboxy-terminal region. These results indicate that interaction of pp60v-src with the plasma membrane may limit the extent of amino-terminal phosphorylation by lowering the rate of the reaction and the affinity for the substrate while increasing its susceptibility to phosphoprotein phosphatases. We suggest that the use of transformed-cell membrane preparations provides a model system for studying the possible regulatory roles of phosphorylation and dephosphorylation on pp60v-src function.     

Dissociation of transformation parameters using temperature-conditional mutants of Rous sarcoma virus.

tsGI251 is a mutant of Rous sarcoma virus which induces a partially transformed phenotype at 42°C (Becker et al., 1977). We have considered two alternative explanations for the partial transformation properties of tsGI251: the src gene product could have more than one intracellular target, or tsGI251 could be a “leaky” mutant. To test the second hypothesis, we cultured cells infected with a variety of temperature-conditional transformation mutants at temperatures between the restrictive and permissive temperatures to make them “leak” to varying degrees, and then measured the following parameters of transformation: growth in soft agar, growth in the absence of serum, density-dependent growth inhibition, LETS protein on the surface, hexose transport rate, plasminogen activator activity and adhesion to the culture dish. We found that the properties of tsGI251 could not be mimicked by making any of the other mutants “leak.” Moreover, although all the parameters of transformation varied coordinately with temperature in most of the mutant-infected cells, cells infected with tsGI251, while thermo-sensitive for cellular parameters of transformation, were cold-sensitive for growth. This indicates that tsGI251 is not simply a “leaky” mutant and raises the possibility that src has more than one primary intracellular target. In addition, the ability of temperature-conditional mutants to cause a dissociation of transformation parameters provides a useful tool for analyzing cause-effect relationships in transformation.