Transformation of Simian Virus 40-resistant Hamster Cells with an Adenovirus 7-Simian Virus 40 Hybrid

When the hamster cell lines BHK21 and Nil-2 were infected at a multiplicity of 100 with the adenovirus 7-simian virus 40 (SV40) hybrid (strain LLE46), SV40 T antigen was induced in 0.1 to 6% of the cells during the first 96 hr postinfection, morphological changes occurred 3 to 7 weeks later, and eventually all the cells contained SV40 T antigen, but no adeno 7 T antigen. Results were similar when primary and secondary monolayer cultures of hamster embryo (HE) cells were infected with the adeno 7-SV40 hybrid, and when primary HE cells were infected with SV40. However, infection of BHK21, Nil-2, and secondary HE cells with the same multiplicity of SV40 did not induce SV40 T antigen or morphological transformation. This suggests that the target cells required for infection with SV40 virions, but not those required for infection with the hybrid, are lost or altered in secondary HE cultures and in the two cell lines. In most of the virus-host cell systems in which SV40 T antigen and transformation were induced, there was a decrease in the number of T antigen-positive cells after the initial infection. This was followed by a lag period of up to 2 months before the onset of a progressive increase in the number of positive cells. The beginning of the rise in T antigen production coincided with the first morphological changes.     

Regulatory mechanism of simian virus 40 gene expression in permissive and in nonpermissive cells.

Primary or continuous lines of mouse cells (3T3) are nonpermissive for simian virus 40 (SV40). Abortively infected cells synthesize tumor antigen (T antigen but not viral DNA and virus capsid protein (V antigen). V antigen, however, was obtained when SV40 DNA was injected into 3T3 cells. This late gene expression also appears to be correlated with the quantity of injected DNA molecules per 3T3 cell. T antigen formation can be detected after microinjection of only 1 to 2 DNA molecules, but the intensity of intranuclear T antigen fluorescence is significantly brighter with injection of higher concentrations of viral DNA. In permissive cells (TC7), early and late SV40 gene expression is directly related to the number of injected molecules. Microinjection of 1DNA molecule induced T and V antigen formation with the same efficiency as microinjection of 2,000 to 4,000 molecules. The question of weather late SV40 gene expression is directly related to the quantity of an early virus-specific product was approached by microinjection of early SV40 complementary RNA together with small amounts of viral DNA. V antigen was obtained in a high proportion of recipient 3T3 cells at conditions where microinjection of viral DNA alone induced T but not V antigen synthesis.     

Possible role of SV40 T antigen in cell transformation]

The effect of purified SV40 T antigen on DNA synthesis in isolated nuclei from the confluent culture of CV-1 cells was studied. In the presence of T antigen the incorporation of [3H]TTP into DNA was found to be 2 to 3 times as high as in the control nuclei. The resulting labelled DNA was subjected to alkaline sucrose gradient centrifugation, which revealed the presence of 4S DNA species, corresponding to Okazaki fragments of animal cells. The latter finding suggests a replicative mode of DNA synthesis induced by T antigen. T antigen isolated from the cells infected with SV40 tsA-mutant and kept at a nonpermissive (41 degrees) temperature fails to stimulate DNA synthesis in isolated nuclei from resting cells. On storage at 4 degrees SV40 T antigen gradually loses its ability to stimulate DNA synthesis and by the 8th day even suppresses it when tested on isolated nuclei from a growing cell culture. No effect of T antigen on the endonuclease-induced reparative synthesis of DNA could be observed. The data described suggest that T antigen is directly involved in the control of DNA synthesis in the cells infected or transformed with SV40.     

Comparison of Transformation and T Antigen Induction in Human Cell Lines

Skin fibroblast cultures were established from eight individuals. These cell cultures, together with WI-38 cells, were examined for susceptibility to transformation by SV40 virus. Four transformation-susceptible cell lines (TS), established from patients with Down's syndrome, were found to be three to four times more susceptible to transformation than transformation-resistant cell lines (TR) from normal individuals. TR and TS cell lines were compared for their susceptibility to induction of SV40 T antigen. For dividing cells T antigen was detected in a higher percentage of TS cells than TR cells. For nondividing cells, the reverse was found; T antigen was detected in 10-fold more cells of the TR lines than in cells of the TS lines. Similar results were obtained after infection of cells with CELO virus. Titration of vaccinia virus and influenza virus A2/Scotland/49/57 indicated that TR and TS cells were equally sensitive to the former virus, but TR cells were three to five times more sensitive to influenza virus A2/Scotland/49/57 than were TS cells.     

Cooperation of simian virus 40 large and small T antigens in metabolic stabilization of tumor suppressor p53 during cellular transformation.

Metabolic stabilization of the tumor suppressor p53 is a key event in cellular transformation by simian virus 40 (SV40). Expression of the SV40 large tumor antigen (large T) is necessary but not sufficient for this process, as metabolic stabilization of p53 complexed to large T in abortively SV40-infected cells strictly depends on the cellular systems analyzed (F. Tiemann and W. Deppert, J. Virol. 68:2869-2878, 1994). Comparative analyses of various cells differing in metabolic stabilization of p53 upon abortive infection with SV40 revealed that metabolic stabilization of p53 closely correlated with expression of the SV40 small t antigen (small t) in these cells: 3T3 cells do not express small t and do not stabilize p53 upon infection with wild-type SV40. However, ectopic expression of small t in 3T3 cells provided these cells with the capacity to stabilize p53 upon SV40 infection. Conversely, precrisis mouse embryo cells express small t and mediate metabolic stabilization of p53 upon infection with wild-type SV40. Infection of these cells with an SV40 small-t deletion mutant did not lead to metabolic stabilization of p53. Small-t expression and metabolic stabilization of p53 correlated with an enhanced transformation efficiency by SV40, supporting the conclusion that at least part of the documented helper effect of small t in SV40 transformation is its ability to promote metabolic stabilization of p53 complexed to large T.     

Isolation of a simian virus 40 T-antigen-positive, transformation-resistant cell line by indirect selection.

In an attempt to identify cellular genes that might be involved in simian virus 40 (SV40) transformation, we have set out to isolate cells which express T antigen but are not transformed. SV40 DNA and the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene were cotransfected into tk- 3T3 fibroblasts. Of 72 colonies screened that were resistant to hypoxanthine-aminopterin-thymidine, 57 were T antigen positive as judged by immunofluorescence. One of these lines, A27, had a normal growth phenotype in monolayer overgrowth and soft agar assays. It contained intact SV40 sequences that could be rescued by fusion to permissive cells. This rescued virus was fully capable of transforming nonpermissive cells to the same extent as did wild-type virus. The A27 cells, however, were not transformable by infection with SV40 or by transfection of SV40 DNA. It is likely that these cells were altered in a cellular function required for the establishment of the transformed state.     

The solubility characteristics of SV 40 tumor antigen

The solubility characteristics of SV40 tumor (T) antigen were investigated. Cell nuclei were isolated from cover glass cultures of SV 40-infected or transformed cells by detergent treatment. When treated in a buffered isotonic sucrose solution, the isolated nuclei contained typical SV40 T antigen by immunofluorescence. If the detergent was dissolved in an isotonic electrolyte solution containing 0.15 M monovalent cations (K+), the T antigen was extracted from the nuclei. Complement fixation tests demonstrated that the various solutions had no deleterious effects on the antigenicity of T antigen. Under identical conditions, the SV 40 capsid (V) antigen was not extracted from infected cell nuclei. These solubility characteristics place SV40 T antigen in the class of “loosely bound” nuclear proteins which includes non-histone proteins that appear to have cell regulatory functions. This supports the suggestion that the biological function of T antigen may be regulatory in nature.     

Regulation of SV40-induced cell division and tumor antigen by dibutyryl adenosine 3′-5′-monophosphate

Simian virus 40 (SV40) induces cell division in microcultures of sparsely plated nongrowing mouse BALB/3T3 cells during acute infection at moderate multiplicities of infection (MOI = 10–100). The infected cells are killed when a MOI of 1,000 is used. SV40 tumor (T) antigen is synthesized in the infected cells, but viral DNA, virion antigen, and progeny virions are not synthesized (abortive infection). The addition of exogenous dibutyryl adenosine 3′-5′-monophosphate (dbcAMP) at the time of infection stimulates the SV40-induced cell division at all MOI and inhibits SV40-induced cell death at high MOI. The percentage of T antigen-positive cells, as monitored by immunofluorescence, is also increased by the addition of dbcAMP at the time of infection. This regulation of SV40-induced cell division and T antigen formation by exogenous dbcAMP occurs within the first 6 hr after infection at 37° C and is dependent upon both the MOI and the concentration of added dbcAMP. The addition of dbcAMP to productively infected TC7 monkey cells has little effect on the SV40-induced cell death or T antigen formation.     

Resistance of teratocarcinoma stem cells to infection with simian virus 40: early events.

Multipotential stem cells of a murine teratocarcinoma are resistant to typical infection with either polyoma virus (PV) or Simian virus 40 (SV40). Differentiated progeny of the stem cells are susceptible to infection in a manner identical to other mouse somatic cells, i.e., they are permissive for PV and nonpermissive for SV40. The early interactions between the stem cells (embryonal carcinoma or EC cells) and SV40 and PV were studied. Virions adsorbed to and penetrated into the cytoplasm and nucleus of EC cells, but did not induce expression of T antigen in the EC nuclei. Purified SV40 DNA was capable of inducing T antigen in differentiated teratocarcinoma cells but not in EC cells. Virus could not be rescued from EC cells previously exposed to SV40. The resistance of the stem cells to infection apparently involves a block in the infectious cycle after adsorption and penetration but before T antigen induction.     

Variation in the appearance of SV40 tumor antigen in transformed cells

Five types of variation in the appearance of SV40 T antigen have been observed by immunofluorescence in wild-type and tsD^*101 transformed BALB and Swiss/3T3 cells: (1) clones having more than 95% uniformly stained nuclei; (2) clones having variable stained nuclei; (3) clones having T-negative nuclei at the periphery at 39 °C, but not at 33 °C; (4) D101 cells having T-negative nuclei at 39 °C, but not at 33 °C, during growth and after saturation; and (5) wild type cells having T-negative nuclei after confluence at both 33 and 39 °C. This fifth type of variation may involve an immuno-specificity change in the T antigen molecule. Any models proposed for the regulation of SV40 T antigen in transformed cells will have to explain these variations.     

Dissection of H-2Db-restricted cytotoxic T-lymphocyte epitopes on simian virus 40 T antigen by the use of synthetic peptides and H-2Dbm mutants.

Five distinct cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) recognition sites were identified in the simian virus 40 (SV40) T antigen by using H-2b cells that express the truncated T antigen or antigens carrying internal deletions of various sizes. Four of the CTL recognition determinants, designated sites I, II, III, and V, are H-2Db restricted, while site IV is H-2Kb restricted. The boundaries of CTL recognition sites I, II, and III, clustered in the amino-terminal half of the T antigen, were further defined by use of overlapping synthetic peptides containing amino acid sequences previously determined to be required for recognition by T-antigen site-specific CTL clones by using SV40 deletion mutants. CTL clone Y-1, which recognizes epitope I and whose reactivity is affected by deletion of residues 193 to 211 of the T antigen, responded positively to B6/PY cells preincubated with a synthetic peptide corresponding to T-antigen amino acids 205 to 219. CTL clones Y-2 and Y-3 lysed B6/PY cells preincubated with large-T peptide LT220-233. To distinguish further between epitopes II and III, Y-2 and Y-3 CTL clones were reacted with SV40-transformed cells bearing mutations in the major histocompatibility complex class I antigen. Y-2 CTL clones lysed SV40-transformed H-2Dbm13 cells (bm13SV) which carry several amino acid substitutions in the putative antigen-binding site in the alpha 2 domain of the H-2Db antigen but not bm14SV cells, which contain a single amino acid substitution in the alpha 1 domain. Y-3 CTL clones lysed both mutant transformants. Y-1 and Y-5 CTL clones failed to lyse bm13SV and bm14SV cells; however, these cells could present synthetic peptide LT205-219 to CTL clone Y-1 and peptide SV26(489-503) to CTL clone Y-5, suggesting that the endogenously processed T antigen yields fragments of sizes or sequences different from those of synthetic peptides LT205-219 and SV26(489-503).     

Quantitative correlation between simian virus 40 T-antigen synthesis and late viral gene expression in permissive and nonpermissive cells

The time-course of intranuclear Simian virus 40 (SV40) tumor (T) antigen synthesis and accumulation in permissive CV1 monkey cells and nonpermissive 3T3 mouse cells has been studied by immunofluorescence and cytofluorometry. CV1 cells accumulate T antigen continuously over a period of 48 h after infection, whereas in 3T3 cells the T-antigen content remains about constant and at a comparatively low level. Only those CV1 cells which have attained a threshold concentration of intranuclear T antigen synthesize viral capsid proteins (V antigen). In nonpermissive 3T3 cells, the T-antigen threshold value for the onset of V-antigen synthesis is higher than in CV1 cells and is never reached by infected cells. However, 3T3 cells microinjected with sufficient amounts of SV40 DNA easily surpass this value and behave permissively.     

Characterization of a 54K dalton cellular SV40 tumor antigen present in SV40-transformed cells and uninfected embryonal carcinoma cells.

SV40 infection or transformation of murine cells stimulated the production of a 54K dalton protein that was specifically immunoprecipitated, along with SV40 large T and small t antigens, with sera from mice or hamsters bearing SV40-induced tumors. The same SV40 anti-T sera immunoprecipitated a 54K dalton protein from two different, uninfected murine embryonal carcinoma cell lines. These 54K proteins from SV40-transformed mouse cells and the uninfected embryonal carcinomas cells had identical partial peptide maps which were completely different from the partial peptide map of SV40 large T antigen. An Ad2+ND4-transformed hamster cell line also expressed a 54K protein that was specifically immunoprecipitated by SV40 T sera. The partial peptide maps of the mouse and hamster 54K protein were different, showing the host cell species specificity of these proteins. The 54K hamster protein was also unrelated to the Ad2+ND4 SV40 T antigen. Analogous proteins immunoprecipitated by SV40 T sera, ranging in molecular weight from 44K to 60K, were detected in human and monkey SV40-infected or -transformed cells. A wide variety of sera from hamsters and mice bearing SV40-induced tumors immunoprecipitated the 54K protein of SV40-transformed cells and murine embryonal carcinoma cells. Antibody produced by somatic cell hybrids between a B cell and a myeloma cell (hybridoma) against SV40 large T antigen also immunoprecipitated the 54K protein in virus-infected and -transformed cells, but did not do so in the embryonal carcinoma cell lines. We conclude that SV40 infection or transformation of mouse cells stimulates the synthesis or enhances the stability of a 54K protein. This protein appears to be associated with SV40 T antigen in SV40-infected and -transformed cells, and is co-immunoprecipitated by hybridomas sera to SV40 large T antigen. The 54K protein either shares antigenic determinants with SV40 T antigen or is itself immunogenic when in association with SV40 large T antigen. The protein varies with host cell species, and analogous proteins were observed in hamster, monkey and human cells. The role of this protein in transformation is unclear at present.     

Analysis of simian virus 40 infection of CV-1 cells by quantitative two-color fluorescence with flow cytometry

Quantitative two-color fluorescent analysis of Simian virus (SV40) infection of permissive CV-1 cells was investigated. Analysis included by quantitation of cellular DNA, the early viral tumor (T) antigen with a monoclonal antibody, and late viral (V) antigens with a polyclonal antibody. T antigen was detected in all phases of the cell cycle at 6 and 12 h, after SV40 infection of growth arrested cells. At later time intervals, the percentage of T-antigen-positive cells increased with the induction of the cells into successive rounds of DNA synthesis and an increase in tetraploid-polyploid cells. The amount of T antigen per cell increased as the cells entered the successive stages of the cell cycle (G0/G1----G2 + M----tetraploid S and G2 + M). The V antigen from adsorbed virus was detected immediately after infection. Synthesis of V antigen began in late S and G2 + M phases of the cell cycle. This quantitative analysis allows a definitive determination of antigen per cell in a population correlated with the cell cycle and may be useful in correlating viral and cellular events with transformation.     

Association of Simian Virus 40 T Antigen with Simian Virus 40 Nucleoprotein Complexes

Viral nucleoprotein complexes were extracted from the nuclei of simian virus 40 (SV40)-infected TC7 cells by low-salt treatment in the absence of detergent, followed by sedimentation on neutral sucrose gradients. Two forms of SV40 nucleoprotein complexes, those containing SV40 replicative intermediate DNA and those containing SV40 (I) DNA, were separated from one another and were found to have sedimentation values of 125 and 93S, respectively. [(35)S]methioninelabeled proteins in the nucleoprotein complexes were analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In addition to VP1, VP3, and histones, a protein with a molecular weight of 100,000 (100K) is present in the nucleoprotein complexes containing SV40 (I) DNA. The 100K protein was confirmed as SV40 100K T antigen, both by immunoprecipitation with SV40 anti-T serum and by tryptic peptide mapping. The 100K T antigen is predominantly associated with the SV40 (I) DNA-containing complexes. The 17K T antigen, however, is not associated with the SV40 (I) DNA-containing nucleoprotein complexes. The functional significance of the SV40 100K T antigen in the SV40 (I) DNA-containing nucleoprotein complexes was examined by immunoprecipitation of complexes from tsA58-infected TC7 cells. The 100K T antigen is present in nucleoprotein complexes extracted from cells grown at the permissive temperature but is clearly absent from complexes extracted from cells grown at the permissive temperature and shifted up to the nonpermissive temperature for 1 h before extraction, suggesting that the association of the 100K T antigen with the SV40 nucleoprotein complexes is involved in the initiation of SV40 DNA synthesis.     

Transformation of precrisis human cells by the simian virus 40 cytoplasmic-localization mutant pSVCT3 is accompanied by nuclear T antigen.

pSVCT3 is a cytoplasmic-localization mutant of simian virus 40 (SV40) isolated from the SV40 adenovirus 7 hybrid virus (PARA) and cloned into plasmid PBR. The large T antigen of pSVCT3 accumulates in the cytoplasm of infected monkey cells instead of being transported to the nucleus. The sole change in CT3 large T antigen is amino acid residue 128 (Lys----Asn). Transformation of precrisis rodent cells by pSVCT3 is negligible, whereas the frequency of transformation of established rodent cell lines by pSVCT3 is comparable to that of wild-type SV40. According to the model, in which transformation of precrisis cells involves the combined oncogenic action of both nuclear and cytoplasmic gene products, we predicted that pSVCT3 would localize in the cytoplasm of human cells and would therefore at most only partially and rarely transform precrisis human cells. We have found that pSVCT3 is able to transform precrisis human cells at high frequency. Furthermore, pSVCT3-transformed human precrisis cells relocalized T antigen to their nuclei. The relocalization of large T antigen was not dependent on cell growth. Wild-type and pSVCT3-transformed human cell lines both have about five copies of integrated SV40 DNA. SV40 virus-specific proteins, including the 100,000-molecular-weight super large T antigen, were expressed in pSVCT3-transformed human cells. Our results suggest that molecules in precrisis human cells, but not cells of other species, are able to complement the cytoplasmic-localization defect of the CT3 mutant large T antigen.     

Construction and characterization of an SV40 mutant defective in nuclear transport of T antigen

An SV40-adenovirus 7 hybrid virus, PARA(cT), has been described that is defective for the nuclear transport of SV40 large tumor antigen. An SV40(cT) mutant was constructed using SV40 early and late region DNA fragments derived from PARA(cT) and wild-type SV40 respectively. The SV40(cT)-3 construct is defective for viral replication, but can be propagated in COS-1 cells. T antigen induced by SV40(cT)-3 is localized in the cytoplasm of infected cells. The cT mutation also inhibits the transport of wild-type T antigen; COS-1 cells lose their constitutive expression of nuclear T antigen after infection with SV40(cT)-3. Sequence analysis revealed that the cT mutation results in the replacement of a positively charged lysine in wild-type T antigen with a neutral asparagine at amino acid number 128, demonstrating that the alteration of a single amino acid is sufficient to abolish nuclear transport. Implications of the cT mutation on possible mechanisms for the transport of proteins to the nucleus are discussed.     

Transformation of African Green Monkey Kidney Cells by Irradiated Adenovirus 7-Simian Virus 40 Hybrid

The ability of adenovirus 7-simian virus 40 (SV40) hybrid (strain LL "E-46") to replicate decreased exponentially as a function of the amount of gamma-irradiation; the ability to induce SV40 and adenovirus 7 T antigen decreased at a much slower rate. Nevertheless, the virus was still able to transform African green monkey kidney cells at a radiation dosage that had completely destroyed its replication ability. All transformed colonies were positive for SV40 T antigen but were negative for adenovirus 7 T antigen. The adenovirus 7-SV40 hybrid transformed cells were superinfectible with SV40 virus. Two of the three transformed cell populations apparently did not sensitize hamsters against the appearance SV40 primary tumors, thus suggesting a deficiency in the SV40 transplantation antigen.