Effect of the Inhibition of Protein Synthesis on the Establishment of Transformation by Polyoma Virus

Puromycin was used to study the effect of the inhibition of protein synthesis on transformation of hamster cells (BHK21) by polyoma virus. The drug was used at a concentration (10(-4)m) which caused in these cells a drastic but fully reversible inhibition of protein synthesis. A two- to threefold enhancement of transformation rate was obtained when the cells were exposed to puromycin for a period of 5 hr that started at the end of the virus adsorption period. No further enhancement was produced by prolonging puromycin treatment up to 13 hr after infection. The possibility that the observed effect on transformation rate could be mainly attributed to cell selection by puromycin was excluded. In addition, the relevance of a number of possible secondary effects of puromycin (inhibition of cell division, inhibition of deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis, etc.) was also ruled out. The effect of puromycin on transformation appeared to be dependent on the time (relative to infection) of addition of the drug. In fact, no transformation enhancement was observed when the cells were exposed to puromycin prior to infection or beyond the 10th hr after infection. Since another drug known to affect protein synthesis (p-fluorophenylalanine) was also shown to produce similar effects, it is suggested that transformation enhancement results from the inhibition of protein synthesis during a sensitive period closely following adsorption of the virus.     

Clonal transformation of adult human leukocytes by Epstein-Barr virus.

We have developed a clonal transformation assay for Epstein-Barr virus which uses adult human leukocytes as target cells. The target cells were isolated from Epstein-Barr seronegative donors, and the same donor's cells could be studied repeatedly over long periods of time. When these cells were transformed by Epstein-Barr virus and had proliferated sufficiently to be studied, they had an average cloning efficiency of 3%. Assuming this average cloning efficiency obtains at the onset of transformation, we calculate that transformation by Epstein-Barr virus leads to immortalization maximally of about 1 in 30 of the adult peripheral leukocytes exposed to the virus. Studying the number of colonies transformed as a function of the amount of virus to which the cells are exposed indicates that a single DNA-containing virus particle is sufficient to transform a cell. All of the transformed clones studied harbored viral DNA. This technique will now permit, for the first time, our studying clonal variations in adult peripheral leukocytes transformed by Epstein-Barr virus as a function of input multiplicity of the virus and of the donor's immune status.     

Conditions leading to the establishment of the N (a gene dependent) and A (a gene independent) transformed states after polyoma virus infection of rat fibroblasts.

Infection of normal rat fibroblasts (FR 3T3) with the early tsa mutant of polyoma virus may lead to either the A or the N phenotype, tsa-A transformants, originally derived by agar selection, are not temperature dependent for maintenance of the transformed phenotype, whereas tsa-N transormants revert at high temperature to normal growth control. A transformants did not result from an independent cellular mutation selected in agar medium, but rather from a transformation process distinct from that leading to the N state. It occurred in both liquid and agar media when the infected cells were maintained under growth-restricting conditions, such as absence of anchorage and contact inhibition at confluency. N transformation occurred in cells maintained in active growth after virus infection (sparse cultures on a solid substratum). Physiological conditions during a critical period after virus infection thus appear to be a crucial parameter of the transformation process.     

Replication of Simian Virus 40 Deoxyribonucleic Acid: Analysis of the One-Step Growth Cycle

The time course of replication of simian virus 40 deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was investigated in growing monolayer cultures of subcloned CV1 cells. At multiplicities of infection of 30 to 60 plaque-forming units (PFU)/cell, first progeny DNA molecules (component 1) were detected by 10 hr after infection. During the following 10 to 12 hr, accumulation of virus DNA proceeded at ever increasing rates, albeit in a non-exponential fashion. The rate of synthesis then remained constant, until approximately the 40th hour postinfection, when DNA replication stopped. Under these conditions, the duration of the virus growth cycle was approximately 50 hr. The time needed for the synthesis of one DNA molecule was found to be approximately 15 min. At multiplicities of infection of 1 or less than 1 PFU/cell, the onset of the linear phase of DNA accumulation was delayed, but the final rate of DNA synthesis was the same, independent of the input multiplicity. This was taken as a proof that templates for the synthesis of viral DNA multiply in the cell during the early phase of replication. However, the probability for every replicated DNA molecule to become in turn replicative decreased constantly during that phase. This could be accounted for by assuming a limited number of replication sites in the infected cell.     

Chromosomal Aberrations and Cloning Efficiency in Adenovirus Type 12-infected Hamster Cells

The fate of hamster cells, abortively infected with adenovirus type 12, has been studied by correlation of chromosomal aberrations with induction of T antigens and cloning efficiency. The incidence of chromosomal changes paralleled to some extent the T antigen formation, but was inversely related to the cloning efficiency of the cells. At an input multiplicity of 100, within 24 hr after infection, nearly all of the cells or metaphases revealed the presence of T antigens and chromosomal lesions, respectively, but no clones of cells were obtained. Inhibition of cellular deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis was not noted during this period. Increasing doses of ultraviolet irradiation reduced, successively, the capacity of the virus to induce chromosomal aberrations and correspondingly improved cloning efficiency of the exposed cells. It is concluded that most, if not all, cells revealing chromosomal lesions 24 hr after infection fail to enter further mitoses.     

Initial Stage of Transformation of Permissive Cells by Simian Virus 40: Development of Resistance to Productive Infection

A quantitative assay has been used to determine the conditions leading to acquisition of resistance of permissive cells to lytic infection. The number of cell colonies surviving infection depends on the occurrence of several cell divisions after infection. High yields of resistant colonies were obtained when infected, confluent cultures were released from contact inhibition 10 to 14 hr after infection. Infection of actively growing cells produced similar results, but halting further division by seeding these growing cells on confluent monolayers prevented the development of colonies. Colony formation was a direct function of multiplicities lower than 5. An inverse killing response was observed with higher multiplicities, yet colonies were produced at a multiplicity of infection as high as 50. Brief exposure of input simian virus 40 to ultraviolet light stimulated colony formation. Irradiation of the virus for longer periods of time led to reduction of colony formation at a rate slower than the rate of inactivation of viral infectivity. It was concluded that resistance is induced by simian virus 40 and that this alteration represents one of the earliest detectable characteristics of the transformation of permissive cells.     

Expression of host genes in influenza virus infected cells

The NS1 protein of influenza virus shuts off host gene expression by inhibiting the polyadenylation-site cleavage of host pre-mRNAs, resulting in a general decline in cellular protein synthesis. On the other hand, an activation of several host genes related to host antiviral defense such as interferon- alpha/beta, MxA, 2',5'-oligoadenylate synthetase, and Fas occures upon infection. Therefore, balance of the shut-off and the activation of cellular genes during virus growth may be crucial in determining the outcome of infection. To obtain a comprehensive view of the global effects of influenza virus infection on human respiratory epithelial cells at the cytoplasmic mRNA level, we performed oligo DNA microarray analysis using GeneChip arrays (Affymetrix). In NCl-H292 cells infected with A/Udorn/72 virus, more than 4-fold increase of expression level was observed for 164 genes at 12 h pi. Approximately 60% of the virus-stimulated genes (VSGs) were also stimulated with interferon-beta treatment and contained the genes known to possess antiviral activity. Interestingly, majority of the VSGs were stimulated before induction of interferons, suggesting that the stimulation of the VSGs during early phase of infection is not mediated by interferons, but it is triggered from within by the virus infection.     

Polyoma virus middle t antigen: a tumor progression factor.

Polyoma virus (PyV) deletion mutant dl23 (affecting both large T and middle t but not small t antigens) was used to study transformation of 3T3 rat cells. This mutant generated stable transformants in the agar assay at a frequency similar to that of wild-type virus (WT). However, WT-induced transformants were detected 3 weeks after infection, whereas those induced by the mutant could not be detected until 6 to 8 weeks after infection. In this respect, dl23 PyV behaved like WT simian virus 40 (SV40). Cells transformed by WT SV40 or by dl23 PyV were similar in all their transformed properties. Those transformed by WT PyV were different from the others on the basis of morphology, cell adhesion to the substrate, release of protease activity, efficiency of doubling in agar, growth rate, and time required for tumor formation. Saturation density, the ability to grow in agar, the serum requirement for cloning, and the ability to grow on a cell monolayer were similar for all transformants. Middle t antigen enhanced membrane alterations and growth rate of the transformed cells, shortening the time required for tumor formation in rats.     

Induction of pre-early nuclear antigen(s) in HEL cells infected with human cytomegalovirus.

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV)-specific nuclear antigen could be detected within 1 hr after infection in human embryo lung cells by the anticomplement immunofluorescence (ACIF) test. This antigen has been named the pre-early nuclear antigen (PENA) in this paper. Serum absorption tests suggested that PENA is immunologically different from the early antigen and the major nuclear inclusion antigens detected by the indirect immunofluorescence test before and after viral DNA replication, respectively. PENA-forming ability of the virus corresponded to its plaque forming ability. PENA formation was not affected by phosphonoacetate but was inhibited by the addition of inhibitors of RNA and protein syntheses or by UV-irradiation of infecting virus, suggesting that the formation of PENA depends on the expression of infecting virus gene functions. Virus-specific proteins were isolated by indirect immunoprecipitation from HCMV-infected cells exposed to 35S-methionine. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the immunoprecipitate showed that at least two species of virus-specific polypeptides with molecular weights o.f 70,000 and 30,000 were synthesized de novo within 3 hr after infection.     

Cloning of canine hematopoietic cells in vitro]

A modified cloning method of the agar culture of canine bone marrow cells was described. A high efficiency of colony formation was seen only after addition to the agar medium of the colony-stimulating activity (CSA) from different sources. Dog serum in a 20% concentration was used in this case. With the optimal CSA concentration there was seen a linear relationship between the number of explanted cells and the number of produced colonies. This method is suitable for determination of committed granulocyte precursor cells, as well as for the study of potential humoral regulators of granulocytopoiesis in dogs.     

Properties of mammalian cells transformed by temperature-sensitive mutants of avian sarcoma virus.

Fibroblasts from European field vole (Microtus agrestis) and from normal rat kidney (NRK) have been infected by avian sarcoma virus mutants which are temperature-sensitive for the maintenance of transformation. These cells are transformed at 33 degrees C, but show normal cell characteristics in morphology, colony formation in agar, saturation density, sugar uptake and membrane proteins at 39 degrees C and 40 degrees C, the nonpermissive temperatures. Ts mutant virus was rescued from most of the ts transformed cell lines. NRK cells infected by avian sarcoma virus ts mutants and kept at the nonpermissive temperature can be transformed by wild-type avian sarcoma virus. The susceptibility of the temperature-sensitive NRK lines to this transformation is higher than the susceptibility of uninfected NRK at either permissive or nonpermissive temperature.     

Colony formation in agar by murine plasmacytoma cells: potentiation by hemopoietic cells and serum

Clonal growth in semisolid agar medium was obtained using cells from 19 of 25 transplanted murine plasmacytomas when the medium was supplemented by whole mouse blood or washed red cells. With different tumors cloning efficiency ranged from 0.01% to 21.6%. With two exceptions, mouse blood did not potentiate colony formation in agar by cells from transplantable myelomonocytic, myeloid, and lymphoid leukemias, reticulum cell sarcomas and fibrosarcomas. The clonal growth of some plasmacytomas was also potentiated by syngeneic thymic, spleen or bone marrow cells. Plasmacytoma colony growth was not stimulated by normal mouse serum but serum from mice injected with endotoxin or polymerised flagellin stimulated colony growth by some plasmacytomas. The active serum factor was not the colony stimulating factor (CSF) and its appearance after antigenic stimulation was not T cell-dependent. Preimmunised mice failed tq respond to antigenic stimulation. Whole body irradiation did not induce a rise in the capacity of serum to stimulate colony formation by plasmacytoma cells.     

Selection of Temperature-Sensitive Mutants During Persistent Infection: Role in Maintenance of Persistent Newcastle Disease Virus Infections of L Cells

Virus mutants (NDV(pi)) recovered from L cells persistently infected with Newcastle disease virus (NDV, Herts strain) are temperature-sensitive (ts) at 43 C, although the wild-type virus (NDV(o)) which initiated the persistent infection replicates normally at that temperature. To study the relationship between the ts marker of NDV(pi) and the other properties which distinguish this virus from NDV(o), NDV(pi) ts(+) revertants were selected at the nonpermissive temperature and NDV(o) ts mutants were generated by treating NDV(o) with nitrous acid. Spontaneously-occurring ts mutants in the Herts NDV population were also isolated. The different virus populations were characterized with regard to plaque size, virulence for eggs, and thermal stability of infectivity, hemagglutinin, and neuraminidase. The NDV(pi) ts(+) revertants, although no longer temperature-sensitive, retained NDV(pi) properties, whereas both spontaneously-occurring and mutagen-induced ts mutants remained wild-type in their other properties. These findings showed that the properties which characterized NDV(pi) were independent of the ts marker. However, the ts marker and the other markers of NDV(pi) were coselected during the persistent infection, and the combination of those markers appeared to be important in the outcome of NDV infection of L cells. NDV(pi) replicated productively in L cells, whereas NDV(o), the NDV(pi) ts(+) revertants, and the spontaneously-occurring ts mutants all yielded covert infections in L cells. The role of the selection of ts mutants in persistent infection was confirmed as follows: L cells were persistently infected with NDV(pi) ts(+) revertants and NDV(o) ts mutants. Virus recovered from the persistently infected cultures after eight cell passages was always temperature-sensitive and of smaller plaque size than the parental virus in chicken embryo cell cultures. Similar results were obtained with virus recovered from L-cell cultures persistently infected with two other velogenic strains of NDV, the Texas-GB and Kansas-Man strains. These results strongly suggest that selection of ts mutants during the persistent infection was not random and played a role in establishment or maintenance of the persistent infection, or both.     

Retention of herpes simplex virus type II sequences in bglII n-transformed cells after co-transfection with a selectable marker.

Transformation of mammalian cells by total u.v.-inactivated herpes simplex virus II (HSVII) or cloned fragments thereof (BglII n, BglII C) has been complicated both by a low efficiency of oncogenic transformation and the disappearance of viral DNA and/or viral products initially detected in the transformed cell lines. In an attempt to effect a stable integration of BglII n and to elucidate the role of HSVII in oncogenic transformation, we have co-transfected NIH 3T3 cells with pAG60, a plasmid which confers resistance to the G418 antibiotic, and plasmids containing either BglII n in its entirety (pNB2) or one of five subfragments of BglII n. Several isolated clones exhibit a transformed phenotype as expressed by rapid growth in low serum concentrations and colony formation in soft agar. We have obtained a markedly reduced frequency of biochemical transformants when co-transfecting pNB2 in comparison with the numbers obtained when cotransfecting the five subfragments. Furthermore, a greater proportion of subfragment-transfected colonies contain viral DNA, and in higher copy number, than observed in the pAG60/pNB2 clones. We have also found viral DNA to be more stably integrated in the subfragment-transfected clones than in the pNB2-transfected clones.     

Tyrosyl kinases acquired from anchorage-independent cells by a membrane-enveloped virus

Tyrosyl kinase activity in vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) acquired from host cells that differ in morphology was investigated. VSV grown in baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells with rounded morphology and a high efficiency of colony formation in soft agar (Rous sarcoma virus [RSV]- transformed and suspension BHK cells) was compared with VSV grown in BHK cells with a flattened morphology and lower efficiency of colony formation in soft agar (RSV-infected revertant and control BHK cells). Tyrosyl kinase activity measured with the substrates angiotensin II peptide or casein was found at 7-10-fold higher levels in virus released from the anchorage-independent BHK cells. Most of the VSV- associated tyrosyl kinases acquired from the RSV-transformed BHK cells reacted with antiserum to pp60src, whereas the activity acquired from the suspension BHK cells was unaffected by anti-src serum. The overall levels of tyrosyl kinase in subcellular fractions of the host BHK cells were also measured. Like the VSV released from them, the RSV- transformed cell extracts contained high levels. The suspension cells, however, contained the same low levels of tyrosyl kinase as was found in the control BHK cell extracts. Therefore, tyrosyl kinase was concentrated and acquired by VSV from the anchorage-independent suspension BHK cells. VSV-associated protein kinases acquired from other cell types followed a similar pattern. Tyrosyl kinase levels were high in VSV released from suspension cultures (Chinese hamster ovary and HeLa) and from virally transformed cells (Kirsten murine sarcoma virus-transformed rat kidney cells) and low in VSV released from an anchorage-dependent primary cell culture (chick embryo fibroblasts).     

Mononuclear macrophage (M-CFC) colony formation in semisolid media in the absence of exogenous GM-CSF

Human fetal bone marrow (FBM) cells were examined for the ability to form colonies in the absence of exogenous colony-stimulating factor (CSF) in double layer agar, methylcellulose (MC), and in agar-MC (agar underlayer, MC overlayer) culture systems. Without exogenous CSF, macrophage colonies (M-CFC) were formed in a combined culture of agar and MC. Aggregates of 5-40 cells were observed on day 7. Gradually, large compact colonies which survived for 10-12 weeks of cultivation, were formed. They were composed of mononuclear monocytes and multinucleated cells. M-CFC progenitors were nonadherent, but their progeny became adherent during differentiation within the colony. Colony formation was cell-dose-dependent. Depletion of monocytes increased the number of colonies in agar-MC cultures and stimulated the development of some macrophage colonies in MC. Survival of monocyte progenitors was not dependent on CSF. Neither was their proliferation nor partial differentiation in agar-MC cultures. CSF increased M-CFC colony efficiency, however, if it was present when cultures were initiated. Addition of CSF to M-CFC growing for 2-5 weeks in CSF-deprived medium stimulated monocytes proliferation and transformation into macrophages. Epithelioid cells, an increase in the number of giant multinucleated cells, and granulocyte multiplication were also observed. The absolute dependence of macrophage colony formation on CSF described by others might be a result of inadequate culture conditions due to agar rather than an intrinsic physiological requirement.     

The characteristics of an anchorage-independent clonal agar assay for primary explanted bovine granulosa cells

Normal, primary explanted, bovine granulosa cells grow reproducibly in agar culture as anchorage-independent clones. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) and rat erythrocytes are effective stimulators of colony formation, and when both are added to the culture medium at optimal concentrations, there is an enhancement of colony numbers and colony size, indicative of an independent, and operationally additive, mode of action for the two factors. The ability of cells propagated from agar clones to secrete progesterone, and to augment progesterone secretion 4-fold in the presence of 1 mM dbcAMP is proof that colonies originate from and are composed of functional granulosa cells. Maximal colony numbers are present at day 10 of incubation, and colony forming cells undergo self-renewal as assessed by the ability of cells from primary colonies to reclone in agar. Absolute cloning efficiency, however, is dependent on a number of factors. Inherent variability exists in cloning efficiency of granulosa cells from individual follicles. Quantitative and qualitative clonal growth was improved at an osmolality of less than 300 mOsm when compared with higher osmolalities. Cl-1 medium and the alpha modification of Eagle's medium were equally effective in supporting agar clonogenic growth, whereas both Ham's F12 and NCTC 135 media exhibited poor clonogenic growth supporting properties. The substitution of agarose for agar did not affect colony numbers but colonies grown in the presence of agarose tended to be smaller and more uniform in size.     

Inhibition of Synchronized Cellular Deoxyribonucleic Acid Synthesis During Newcastle Disease Virus, Mengovirus, or Reovirus Infection

Cultures of L cells were synchronized with respect to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis with thymidine and 5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine (FUdR) and infected with Newcastle disease virus (NDV), mengovirus, or reovirus 3. Inhibition of incorporation of (3)H-cytidine into the DNA of synchronized cells is partially inhibited 2 hr after infection with NDV or mengovirus and nearly completely suppressed 4 hr after infection. With NDV and mengovirus, no evidence was obtained of differences in sensitivity of cells during early S phase as compared to later stages in DNA synthesis. When cells were infected with reovirus at the time of release from FUdR block, inhibition of cellular DNA synthesis was evident at 2 to 3 hr, and it was complete at 4 to 5 hr after infection. However, when cells were infected several hours prerelease, synthesis of DNA occurred in early S phase in spite of the fact that the cells had been infected for up to 6 hr. The results indicate that DNA synthesis in early S phase is relatively insensitive to the inhibitory function of reovirus. Colorimetric determinations (diphenylamine reaction) of the amounts of DNA produced in synchronized cells have substantiated the inhibition of DNA synthesis observed by isotope incorporation techniques.