Identification of the SL3-3 virus enhancer core as a T-lymphoma cell-specific element.

Transient expression assays were used to determine the sequences within the long terminal repeat (LTR) that define the high activity in T-lymphoma cells of the leukemogenic SL3-3 virus in comparison with that of the nonleukemogenic Akv virus. Each of these viruses contains sequences related to the consensus element, the enhancer core. The SL3-3 and Akv enhancer cores differ at a single base pair. Substitution of the Akv core element into the SL3-3 LTR decreased expression in T-lymphoma cells but not in other cell types. Likewise, substitution of the SL3-3 core sequence into the Akv LTR increased expression in T-lymphoma cells but not in other types of hematopoietic cells. These data indicate that the SL3-3 enhancer core sequence functions better than that of Akv in T-lymphoma cells, but in other hematopoietic cell types the two are approximately equivalent. Competition DNA-protein binding assays were used to assess what nuclear factors from T-lymphoma lines and non-T lines bound to the SL3-3 and Akv core elements. Factors were detected that bound specifically to either the SL3-3 or Akv core but not to the other. Another factor was detected that bound equally well to both. However, none of these factors was specific to T-lymphoma cells.     

Analysis of the significance of two single-base-pair differences in the SL3-3 and Akv virus long terminal repeats.

Two single-base-pair differences between the long terminal repeats (LTRs) of the T-lymphomagenic murine retrovirus SL3-3 and nonleukemogenic Akv virus were tested for effects on activity of the LTRs. Evidence was obtained from electrophoretic mobility shift assays for the presence of at least one factor in both T and non-T cells that bound to the region of the viral enhancers that contained the differences. However, no significant differences in activity in expression assays were detected when the two base-pair differences were exchanged between the two LTRs. Therefore, they do not contribute to the higher activity of the SL3-3 LTR in T-lymphoma cell lines.     

Structural diversity and nuclear protein binding sites in the long terminal repeats of feline leukemia virus.

The long terminal repeat U3 sequences were determined for multiple feline leukemia virus proviruses isolated from naturally occurring T-cell tumors. Heterogeneity was evident, even among proviruses cloned from individual tumors. Proviruses with one, two, or three repeats of the long terminal repeat enhancer sequences coexisted in one tumor, while two proviruses with distinct direct repeats were found in another. The enhancer repeats are characteristic of retrovirus variants with accelerated leukemogenic potential and occur between -155 and -244 base pairs relative to the RNA cap site. The termini of the repeats occur at or near sequence features which have been recognized at other retrovirus recombinational junctions. In vitro footprint analysis of the feline leukemia virus enhancer revealed three major nuclear protein binding sites, located at consensus sequences for the simian virus 40 core enhancer, the nuclear factor 1 binding site, and an indirect repeat which is homologous to the PEA2 binding site in the polyomavirus enhancer. Only the simian virus 40 core enhancer sequence is present in all of the enhancer repeats. Cell type differences in binding activities to the three motifs may underlie the selective process which leads to outgrowth of viruses with specific sequence duplications.     

Rearrangements in the long terminal repeat of extra mouse mammary tumor proviruses in T-cell leukemias of mouse strain GR result in a novel enhancer-like structure.

Male GR mice develop T-cell leukemia at low frequency late in life. These leukemia cells invariably contain large amounts of mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) RNA and MMTV proteins and have extra MMTV proviruses integrated in their DNA. We show here that the extra MMTV proviruses are all derived from the endogenous MMTV provirus associated with the Mtv-2 locus and that the T-cell leukemias are clonal with respect to the acquired MMTV proviruses. The extra MMTV proviruses in six transplantable T-cell leukemia lines studied had rearranged, shortened long terminal repeats (LTRs); each T-cell leukemia, however, had a different LTR rearrangement within its extra MMTV provirus. The alteration within the extra LTRs of T-cell leukemia line 42 involved deletion of 453 nucleotides and generation of a tandem repeat region consisting of regions flanking the deletion. This alteration generated a sequence similar to the adenovirus enhancer core sequence. The viral RNAs in the T-cell leukemias contained corresponding alterations in their U3 regions. These results demonstrate that expression of MMTV in T-cell leukemias of GR mice may be the consequence of the generation of a novel enhancer, which could also stimulate expression of any adjacent cellular oncogene.     

Mapping of functional regions of murine retrovirus long terminal repeat enhancers: enhancer domains interact and are not independent in their contributions to enhancer activity.

We have used deletion and recombinant long terminal repeat (LTR) mutants to examine enhancer activity differences between LTRs of the nonpathogenic Akv and the thymus lymphomagenic MCF13 murine retroviruses. Deletion mutant analysis revealed that major control regions for MCF13 and Akv LTR enhancer activity were similar but not identical. For both LTRs, major control regions were distinctly different in a murine T-cell and a fibroblast cell line. Recombinant enhancer analysis showed that LTRs could be divided into three regions capable of altering the level of enhancer activity through cooperative or antagonistic interaction. The contribution of each region to enhancer activity was dependent on its context with respect to the other regions. LTR enhancer function in different cell types appears to be the result of the interaction of enhancer modular elements.     

Murine leukemia virus long terminal repeat sequences can enhance gene activity in a cell-type-specific manner.

We tested the ability of sequences in the long terminal repeat (LTR) of a mink cell focus-forming (MCF) murine leukemia virus to function as an enhancer in a cell-type-specific manner. In a stable transformation assay, the MCF or Akv LTR and the simian virus 40 enhancer had similar activities in murine fibroblasts. In contrast, the MCF LTR had a significantly greater activity in murine T lymphoid cells than did either the simian virus 40 enhancer or the Akv LTR.     

Structure of retroviral RNAs produced by cell lines derived from spontaneous lymphomas of AKR mice.

The retrovirus expression of eight independent lymphoid cell lines derived from spontaneous thymomas of AKR mice was investigated. The RNase T1 fingerprints of viral 70S RNA produced by these cell lines were compared with genome structures of the non-leukemogenic Akv virus and with two types of cloned leukemogenic viruses derived from one of the thymoma cell lines. Viral RNAs from three cell lines, SL3, 4, and 7, were indistinguishable from one another. The fingerprint patterns indicated that these cell lines produce equal amounts of two prototype, leukomogenic SL viruses that were previously isolated from the SL3 cell line. Viral RNA produced by the SL1 and SL2 cell lines contained similar components, but at a different ratio. Two other cell lines (SL5 and SL11) produced viral RNAs that resemble those of AKR mink cell focus-forming viruses. One additional line, SL9, produced viral RNA of a novel structure. The complex pattern of viral RNA expression observed for these lymphoid cell lines can be interpreted in terms of recombination among three types of endogenous viral sequences: the Akv virus, a xenotropic virus, and an SL (for spontaneous leukemia) virus.     

Disruption of hematopoiesis and thymopoiesis in the early premalignant stages of infection with SL3-3 murine leukemia virus

A time course analysis of SL3-3 murine leukemia virus (SL3) infection in thymus and bone marrow of NIH/Swiss mice was performed to assess changes that occur during the early stages of progression to lymphoma. Virus was detectable in thymocytes, bone marrow, and spleen as early as 1 to 2 weeks postinoculation (p.i.). In bone marrow, virus infection was detected predominantly in immature myeloid or granulocytic cells. Flow cytometry revealed significant reductions of the Ter-119(+) and Mac-1(+) populations, and significant expansions of the Gr-1(+) and CD34(+) populations, between 2 and 4 weeks p.i. Analysis of colony-forming potential confirmed these findings. In the thymus, SL3 replication was associated with significant disruption in thymocyte subpopulation distribution between 4 and 7 weeks p.i. A significant thymic regression was observed just prior to the clonal outgrowth of tumor cells. Proviral long terminal repeats (LTRs) with increasing numbers of enhancer repeats were observed to accumulate exclusively in the thymus during the first 8 weeks p.i. Observations were compared to the early stages of infection with a virtually nonpathogenic SL3 mutant, termed SL3DeltaMyb5, which was shown by real-time PCR to be replication competent. Comparison of SL3 with SL3DeltaMyb5 implicated certain premalignant changes in tumorigenesis, including (i) increased proportions of Gr-1(+) and CD34(+) bone marrow progenitors, (ii) a significant increase in the proportion of CD4(-) CD8(-) thymocytes, (iii) thymic regression prior to tumor outgrowth, and (iv) accumulation of LTR enhancer variants. A model in which disrupted bone marrow hematopoiesis and thymopoiesis contribute to the development of lymphoma in the SL3-infected animal is discussed.     

Rearrangements and insertions in the Moloney murine leukemia virus long terminal repeat alter biological properties in vivo and in vitro.

The effects of rearrangement and insertion of sequences in the Moloney murine leukemia virus (M-MuLV) long terminal repeat (LTR) were investigated. The alterations were made by recombinant DNA manipulations on a plasmid subclone containing an M-MuLV LTR. Promoter activity of altered LTRs was measured by fusion to the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene, followed by transient expression assay in NIH 3T3 cells. M-MuLV proviral organizations containing the altered LTRs were also generated, and infectious virus was recovered by transfection. Infectivity of the resulting virus was quantified by XC plaque assay, and pathogenicity was determined by inoculating neonatal NIH Swiss mice. Inversion of sequences in the U3 region containing the tandemly repeated enhancer sequences (-150 to -353 base pairs [bp]) reduced promoter activity approximately fivefold in the transient-expression assays. Infectious virus containing the inverted sequences (Mo- M-MuLV) showed a 20-fold reduction in relative infectivity compared with wild-type M-MuLV, but the virus still induced thymus-derived lymphoblastic lymphoma or leukemia in mice, with essentially the same kinetics as for wild-type M-MuLV. We previously derived an M-MuLV which carried inserted enhancer sequences from the F101 strain of polyomavirus (Mo + PyF101 M-MuLV) and showed that this virus is nonleukemogenic. In Mo + PyF101 M-MuLV, the PyF101 sequences were inserted between the M-MuLV promoter and the M-MuLV enhancers (at -150 bp). A new LTR was generated in which the PyF101 sequences were inserted to the 5' side of the M-MuLV enhancers (at -353 bp, PyF101 + Mo M-MuLV). The PyF101 + Mo LTR exhibited promoter activity similar (40 to 50%) to that of wild-type M-MuLV, and infectious PyF101 + Mo M-MuLV had high infectivity on NIH 3T3 cells (50% of wild type). In contrast to the nonleukemogenic Mo + PyF101 M-MuLV, PyF101 + Mo M-MuLV induced leukemia with kinetics similar to that of wild-type M-MuLV. Thus, the position of the PyF101 sequences relative to the M-MuLV LTR affected the biological behavior of the molecular construct. Furthermore, PyF101 + Mo M-MuLV induced a different spectrum of neoplastic disease. In comparison with wild-type M-MuLV, which induces a characteristic thymus-derived lymphoblastic lymphoma with extremely high frequency, PyF101 + Mo M-MuLV was capable of inducing both acute myeloid leukemia or thymus-derived lymphoblastic lymphoma, or both. Tumor DNA from both the PyF101 + Mo- and Mo- M-MuLV-inoculated animals contained recombinant proviruses with LTRs that differed from the initially inoculated virus.