Clonal isolation of different strains of mouse mammary tumor virus-like DNA sequences from both the breast tumors and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas of individual patients diagnosed with both malignancies.

PURPOSE: In a previous study, we had detected the presence of mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV)-like envelope (ENV) gene sequences in both the breast tumors and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma tissue of two of our breast tumor patients who had been diagnosed simultaneously with both malignancies. The aim of this study was to determine if MMTV-like DNA sequences are present in the breast tumors and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas of additional patients suffering from both malignancies and if so to characterize these sequences in detail. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: DNA was extracted from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sample blocks of breast tumors and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas from patients suffering from both malignancies. A 250-bp region of the MMTV ENV gene and a 630-bp region of the MMTV long terminal repeat (LTR) open reading frame (ORF) that encodes the MMTV superantigen (sag) gene were amplified by PCR from the isolated DNA. Amplified products were analyzed by Southern blotting, cloned, and sequenced. RESULTS: MMTV-like ENV and LTR sequences were detected in both the breast tumors and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas of 6 of 12 patients suffering from both malignancies. A novel mutant of the MMTV ENV gene was identified in these patients. Characterization of the MMTV-like LTR highly variable sag sequences revealed total or nearly total identity to three distinct MMTV proviruses from two different branches of the MMTV phylogenetic tree. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of MMTV-like ENV and LTR sequences in both the breast tumors and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas of 6 additional patients suggests a possible involvement of these sequences in these two malignancies. MMTV-like LTR sequence homology to different MMTV proviruses revealed the presence of more than one strain of MMTV-like sequences in each individual suggesting the possibility of multiple infections in these patients.     

Structure of mutant and wild-type MC29 v-myc alleles and biochemical properties of their protein products

Proviral DNAs of three fibroblast-transforming MC29 deletion mutants (MC29-10A, MC29-10C, MC29-10H) with defects in hemopoietic cell transformation and tumor induction were molecularly cloned and their deletions were defined by nucleotide sequence analysis. The MC29-10C and MC29-10H v-myc alleles have identical internal deletions overlapping with a smaller one in the MC29-10A v-myc allele, and MC29-10H has an additional internal deletion in the partial gag complement. All deletions are in frame, and the deduced sequences of the mutant gag-myc hybrid proteins lack 56 (MC29-10A) or 120 (MC29-10C, MC29-10H) myc-specific and 44 gag-specific (MC29-10H) amino acid residues. The deleted v-myc nucleotide sequences correspond to the 3' end of exon 2 and the 5' end of exon 3 of the cellular c-myc gene including a region that encodes a high number of acidic amino acid residues. Based on these structural analyses, biochemical properties of mutant and wild-type gag-myc hybrid proteins were compared. Tryptic digests of all three mutant proteins lack a large myc-specific peptide that is present in digests of the wild-type protein and is extensively phosphorylated at serine and threonine residues. Concordantly, the sequence analyses predict that such a large tryptic peptide with putative phosphorylation sites at serine and threonine residues is present in the wild-type gag-myc protein but absent in all three mutant proteins due to the v-myc deletions. Chromatography of wild-type and mutant gag-myc proteins on DNA-cellulose revealed that their in vitro DNA affinities are indistinguishable from each other. Correspondingly, the sequence analyses predict that the carboxyl-terminal region rich in basic amino acid residues and with putative DNA affinity is conserved in wild-type and mutant gag-myc proteins. We conclude that the internal v-myc protein sequences defined by the deletions are necessary for hemopoietic cell transformation and complete phosphorylation, but dispensable for fibroblast transformation and in vitro DNA binding.     

A mouse mammary tumor virus-like long terminal repeat superantigen in human breast cancer

We previously reported a 660-bp mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV)-like env gene sequence in approximately 38% of human breast cancer DNA, but not in normal breasts or other tumors. This MMTV-like env gene sequence was expressed in 66% of the env gene-positive human breast cancers. An entire proviral structure was identified in human breast cancer DNA with high homology to MMTV and low homology to known human endogenous retrovirus. MMTV-like long terminal repeat (LTR) sequences were also detected in 41.5% of human breast cancers. They contain hormone-responsive elements, TEF-1 family elements, and the open reading frame for the superantigen (SAg). We have now amplified and sequenced MMTV-like sag sequences from 10 human breast cancers, and we found that they are highly homologous to those of MMTV. However, deletions and insertions at the COOH-terminal of sag were observed. The immune function of the human MMTV-like LTR SAg was also investigated. The sag gene was cloned and expressed in a human B-cell line (Ramos). T-cell proliferation and cytokine releasing assays were performed after cocultivation of T cells with irradiated Ramos SAg-expressing cells. The results indicate that expression of the human SAg stimulates T-cell activation in vitro, as the mouse SAg does. Because the T-cell responses in vitro are considered similar to those in vivo, these results suggest that the human LTR SAg might also play a role in human breast carcinogenesis.     

A retroviral sequence of the Chinese hamster ovary cell line.

A partial cDNA (B52) molecule with the characteristics of retroviral sequences was isolated from the Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) K1 cell line. The B52 cDNA contains 1184 nucleotides. The first 452 nucleotides (nt) are 71% homologous to the env gene of Moloney murine leukemia virus (MMLV) and murine endogenous retroviruses. The 139 amino acids predicted from the 452 nt have 82% homology with the carboxy-terminal amino acids of the env protein of MMLV. The remaining 732 nt have several features of a typical retroviral long terminal repeat (LTR). For example, the first 14 nt are identical to the 5' inverted repeat of the retroviral LTRs. The 41-nt sequence at the 3' end is common to the R region of retroviral LTRs. The 732-nt sequence was shown to have promoter activity. The activity is approximately twofold higher than that of the Rous sarcoma virus LTR, and 1.5-fold lower than that of the early promoter of SV40 virus. Two species of mRNA of 5.2 and 2.7 kb in size were readily detected by B52 cDNA in the CHO K1 cells.     

Cloning, characterisation and bacterial expression of full length cDNA for the mouse liver microsomal glutathione S-transferase

We have isolated a cDNA encoding full length microsomal glutathione S-transferase (MGST) from mouse liver. The cDNA was isolated by RT-PCR using primers designed from published cDNA sequence of rat MGST with the addition of 5' Nde-1 and 3' HindIII sites, and cloned into bacterial expression vector pSP19T7LT. Deduced amino acid sequence (155 amino acids, calculated mol.mass 17512 Dalton) confirmed the identity of microsomal GST from mouse liver which has sequence homology with that of rat and human liver MGST1. Recombinant GST cDNA (Genbank accession # 159050) was expressed in BL21(DE3) in the presence of 1 mM IPTG at 30 degrees C. The expressed GST protein was found to be localised in the bacterial membrane as determined by measuring catalytic activity using CDNB and cumene hydroperoxide substrates, SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis. We have demonstrated the cloning and expression of full length cDNA for MGST from mouse liver and have characterised the functionally active product as MGST protein. These results should facilitate studies on the role of MGST in the regulation of chemical carcinogenesis and in the prevention of oxidative stress caused by endogenous and exogenous chemicals.     

A region of antisense RNA from human p120 cDNA with high homology to mouse p120 cDNA inhibits NIH 3T3 proliferation.

The human nucleolar p120 protein is a proliferation-associated antigen which is expressed in G1 and peaks during the early S phase of the cell cycle. Overexpression of the human p120 protein caused the transformation of NIH 3T3 cells and expression of an antisense p120 construct inhibited the growth of NIH 3T3 cells (Perlaky et al., Cancer Res., 52:428-436, 1992). The middle region of the antisense p120 RNA was found to be almost as inhibitory as the full length antisense construct but the 5' and 3' antisense portions did not affect NIH 3T3 cell proliferation. After the mouse p120 complementary DNA was cloned and sequenced, comparison with the human p120 complementary DNA showed a striking conservation of 85% of the nucleotide sequence and 96% of the amino acid sequence. The two ends of the p120 molecule had less homology in their nucleotide and amino acid sequences. Based on this homology, the observed inhibitory effects of the middle portion of antisense human p120 RNA may be related to suppression of mouse p120 expression by RNA:RNA duplex formation. The high evolutionary conservation of the middle region suggests it has a critical role for the function of this protein.     

鼠源抑癌新基因 Ndr2的克隆、测序与生物信息学分析

背景与目的：人源Ndr2(N-myc down-stream regulator2)基因是本室于1999年从正常人全脑cDNA文库中克隆到的一个新基因[GenBank,AF159092]。初步实验表明,Ndr2有可能是一个抑癌基因,为进一步研究该基因的功能,我们拟克隆小鼠的Ndr2的基因组序列。方法：以小鼠的基因组文库为模板,采用RT-PCR方法扩增Ndr2的基因组片段,用310Genetic Analyzer自动测序仪测序,GenBankBLAST相似性分析其与人源Ndr2基因同源性,PcGene和ORF Finder作读框分析。ProDom软件作结构域分析。结果：经琼脂糖DNA电泳鉴定,获得一约3310bp大小的特异条带,并克隆入pMD18-T载体,BLAST相似性分析结果表明该序列与人源Ndr2基因高度同源（同源性为91.4%)。瑕鼠基因组数据库无同源性,已公布的鼠源Ndr2mRNA序列比较发现该基因有8个外显子,7个内含子,读框分析表明,该序列编码含200个氨基酸的蛋白质,ProDom软件分析发现其含有酰基携带蛋白（ACP）样结构域。结论：本研究克隆了一个鼠的Ndr2基因并已测序。该基因为一新基因,该序列已被GenBank收录（登录号：AY151387）。     

Cloning and partial sequencing of a novel human activin receptor-like kinase

Receptors for the transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta receptor superfamily are transmembrane protein serine/threonine kinases. By using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based strategy to screen for the protein kinase sequences, we isolated a novel complementary DNA (cDNA) clone from a human breast carcinoma and a human brain cDNA libraries. The PCR primers were designed based upon the published sequence of the kinase domain of human activin receptor-like kinase (ALK)-4. The clone has unique nucleotide sequences with 82% identical to the corresponding region of rat ALK-7 and shows 96% identity at the amino acid level; however, was incomplete at the 5' end. Despite the 5' untranslated and ligand-binding regions, these results indicate the heterogeneity of a transmembrane kinase domain between the current ALK and the previously cloned human TGF-beta receptor families. The expression of messenger RNA in human tissues varied for the different human ALKs might elicit specific TGF-beta receptors functions.     

Evidence of separate pathways for viral and chemical carcinogenesis in c3h/stwi mouse mammary glands

Mammary tumors in mice may arise as the result of exogenous infection with the mouse mammary tumor virus [MMTV(S)], usually via the milk; by the action of endogenous MMTV genes which are transmitted genetically and are sometimes expressed as infectious virus [MMTV(L)]; or by the action of chemical carcinogens. We have examined the etiological relationship between chemical and virus in the induction of mammary cancer in C3H/StWi mice. Mammary tumors were induced with 7.12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) in virgin C3H/StWi mice infected with exogenous mouse mammary tumor virus (C3H/StMTV) and in uninfected C3H/StWi females. The percent tumor risk in females whose glands were infected with exogenous mouse mammary tumor virus [MMTV(S)] was not different from that of MMTV(S)-negative, C3H/StWi mice following treatment with DMBA. This result suggested that there was no synergistic effect between the two carcinogens, exogenous MMTV and Dmba. All the tumors arising in DMBA-treated C3H/StMTV virgins were positive for MMTV env gene product, gp52 and MMTV gag gene product, p²⁷ by radioimmune competition assay. MMTV(S)-induced hyperplastic alveolar nodules (HAN) were observed in 62 % of the untreated C3H/StMTV glands at 8 months of age. Therefore, MMTV(S) was present and active in the mammary gland during the experimental period but had no enhancing influence on the sensitivity of the gland to carcinogenesis by DMBA. Tumors appearing in DMBA-treated C3H/StWi virgin females were also tested for MMTV gp⁵² and p²⁷ antigens to determine the presence of endogenous MMTV gene activity. Only occasional C3H/StWi tumors were positive and in most of these, p²⁷, but not gp⁵² was detected, suggesting non-coordinate expression of these endogenous MMTV gene products. Both alveolar (HAN) and ductal hyperplasia (DH) were found in DMBA-treated C3H/StMTV glands, whereas only DH were found in DMBA-treated C3H/StWi mice. Nevertheless, the DMBA-induced C3H/StMTV tumor histopathology was remarkably indistinguishable from that in tumors produced by DMBA in C3H/StWi mice, implying that in both groups, tumors arose primarily from the chemically-induced mammary dysplasias. These data taken together appear to support the conclusion that DMBA and Mmtv follow separate pathways to the induction of cancer in the mouse mammary gland.     

Two oncogenes in avian carcinoma virus MH2: myc and mht

The 5.2-kilobase (kb) RNA genome of avian carcinoma virus MH2 has the genetic structure 5' - delta gag (0.2 kb)-mht (1.2 kb)-myc (1.4 kb)-c(0.4 kb)-poly (A) (0.2 kb)-3'. delta gag is a partial retroviral core protein, mht and myc are cell-derived MH2-specific sequences, and c is the 3'-terminal retroviral vector sequence. the following results were obtained from the complete nucleotide sequences of the mht and myc genes in MH2. (i) delta gag-mht forms a hybrid gene with a contiguous reading frame of 2682 nucleotides that terminates with a stop codon near the 3' end of the mht gene. The 3' 969 nucleotides of mht up to the stop codon are 80% sequence related to the onc-specific raf sequence of murine sarcoma virus 3611 (MSV 3611) (94% homologous at the deduced amino acid level). (ii) The myc coding region in MH2 is preceded by 181 nucleotides derived from the intron immediately upstream from the second exon of the chicken cellular proto-myc gene, followed by an RNA splice acceptor site shared with the proto-myc gene, followed by an RNA splice acceptor site shared with the proto-myc, beyond which it is colinear up to a 3'-termination codon and 40 noncoding nucleotides with the myc sequences of avian retrovirus MC29 and chicken proto-myc. Thus, myc forms, together with a 5' retroviral exon, a second MH2-specific gene. It is concluded that MH2 contains two genes with oncogenic potential, the delta gag-mht gene, which is closely related to the delta gag-raf transforming gene of MSV 3611, and the myc gene, which is related to the transforming gene of MC29. Furthermore, it may be concluded that the cellular proto-onc genes, which on sequence transduction become viral onc genes, are a small group because among the 19 known onc sequences, 5 are shared by different taxonomic groups of viruses of which the mht/raf homology is the closest so far.     

Detection and identification of mouse mammary tumor virus-like DNA sequences in blood and breast tissues of breast cancer patients

Mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) is a well-known cause of mammary tumors in mice transmitted as endogenous proviruses or exogenously as infectious virions. The hypothesis that a retrovirus homologous to MMTV is involved in human breast cancers has resulted in renewed interest in the etiology of human breast cancer. Therefore, the detection of MMTV-like exogenous sequences in 30–40 % of invasive breast cancer has increased attention towards this hypothesis. To detect the prevalence of MMTV in Pakistani population, 666-bp-long MMTV envelop and 630-bp LTR sequences were amplified from breast cancer patient samples (tissue biopsies and peripheral blood) using mouse with mammary tumor as control. MMTV-like virus env and LTR DNA sequences were detected in 20 and 26 % of breast tumor samples, respectively, from the total of 80 breast cancer patients’ blood and tissue samples. No significant association was observed between age, grade of disease, and lymph node involvement with the prevalence of MMTV-like sequences. Our data add to the growing number of studies implicating MMTV-like virus in human breast cancer, but still clear causal association of MMTV to breast cancer remains to be reputable.     

The mouse mammary tumor virus-like env gene sequence is not detectable in breast cancer tissue of Austrian patients

The mammary mouse tumor virus (MMTV) has been related to human breast cancer in previous studies, but these have yielded contradictory results. An MMTV env gene-like sequence was detectable in a relatively high proportion (38%) of human breast cancer tissues. The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of this 660 bp MMTV env gene-like sequence in a population of Austrian breast cancer patients. We performed PCR, repeat PCR, and nested PCR. We did not find any exogenous MMTV env gene sequences in the 50 DNA samples of human breast cancer tissue nor in 22 breast cancer cell lines including MCF-7, which has previously been described as a positive control.     

The sequence of chicken c-yes and p61c-yes

We have deduced the sequence of the protein encoded by the chicken c-yes gene from overlapping cDNA clones. The predicted protein, p61c-yes, contains 541 amino acids and has a molecular weight of 60,911 with the amino terminal methionine residue. Chicken p61c-yes differs from Y73 virus p90gag/v-yes in three respects. First, the carboxy-terminal eight amino acids of p61c-yes are replaced by three amino acids in p90gag/v-yes, which are encoded by the avian leukemia virus env gene. This alteration changes the position and context of a tyrosine residue in p61c-yes. Second, nucleotides which are present as 5' non-translated sequence in the p61c-yes mRNA, are translated in the p90gag/v-yes mRNA. Third, there are fourteen dispersed nucleotide differences in Y73 v-yes which result in six amino differences between the body of p90gag/v-yes and p61c-yes. Chicken p61c-yes differs from human p61c-yes at 43 residues, and from chicken pp60c-src at 122 residues.     

Breast cancer incidence highest in the range of one species of house mouse, Mus domesticus

Incidence of human breast cancer (HBC) varies geographically, but to date no environmental factor has explained this variation. Previously, we reported a 44% reduction in the incidence of breast cancer in women fully immunosuppressed following organ transplantation (Stewart et al (1995) Lancet 346: 796-798). In mice infected with the mouse mammary tumour virus (MMTV), immunosuppression also reduces the incidence of mammary tumours. DNA with 95% identity to MMTV is detected in 40% of human breast tumours (Wang et al (1995) Cancer Res 55: 5173-5179). These findings led us to ask whether the incidence of HBC could be correlated with the natural ranges of different species of wild mice. We found that the highest incidence of HBC worldwide occurs in lands where Mus domesticus is the resident native or introduced species of house mouse. Given the similar responses of humans and mice to immunosuppression, the near identity between human and mouse MTV DNA sequences, and the close association between HBC incidence and mouse ranges, we propose that humans acquire MMTV from mice. This zoonotic theory for a mouse-viral cause of HBC allows testable predictions and has potential importance in prevention.     

Human prolactin regulates transfected MMTV LTR-directed gene expression in a human breast-carcinoma cell line through synergistic interaction with steroid hormones.

Prolactin plays a key role in the regulation and growth of mammary cells, and influences tumor promotion. We have shown that chronic energy restriction intake depresses prolactin levels, inhibits production of MMTV proviral DNA and proto-oncogene expression in mammary glands and prevents development of mammary tumors. Since the expression and proto-oncogene activation of MMTV are regulated by promoter/enhancer elements within its long terminal repeat (LTR), in the present study we used a chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) reporter gene system and gene transfection methods to study the effect of prolactin on MMTV LTR using a human ductal carcinoma cell line T47D stably or transiently transfected with a plasmid consisting of the LTR upstream of CAT gene. Human prolactin or dexamethasone induced, respectively, a 2-fold or 6-fold increase in CAT activity compared with background CAT activity in the absence of hormones. However, the combination of human prolactin and dexamethasone strongly enhanced (20-fold) induction of the LTR compared with the control. Human prolactin also showed a synergistic effect with progesterone on LTR induction. Both LTR and CAT genes needed to be linked for induction of CAT activity by prolactin and dexamethasone. Our results indicate that human prolactin can act synergistically with steroid hormones to regulate MMTV LTR-directed gene expression in transfected T47D cells.     

Retroviruses in radiation-induced lymphomas

The nucleotide sequence of RadLV/VL3 (T+L+), the thymotropic and leukemogenic entity of the in-vitro propagated radiation leukemia virus complex (RadLV/VL3), is that of a recombinant retrovirus. The gag, pol and most of the env gene are very similar to the homologous regions of Akv MuLV. The 3' end of the env gene and the LTR appear to have derived from a xenotropic MuLV. However, the LTR has acquired a feature shared by other lymphomagenic MuLVs. This feature consists in sequence rearrangements resulting in the generation of presumed enhancer elements. RadLV/VL3(T+L+)-specific proviral sequences were found adjacent to the c-myc gene in several virus-induced thymic lymphomas of the rat, suggesting that the enhancer elements might play a role in lymphomagenesis. However, we found that the presence of a provirus at a specific DNA site can lead to an in-vitro growth advantage and to clonal cell selection independently of a lymphomagenic process. We conclude from this observation that clonal appearance of an integrated provirus in cultured radiogenic lymphoma cells does not necessarily reflect a viral induction of radiation-induced leukemogenesis.     

人骨髓、脐血CD34~ 干细胞体外扩增的树突状细胞的表型及其T细胞刺激活性分析

目的:扩增出单纯疱疹病毒I型(HSV-I)Stocker株胸苷激酶(tk)基因,并将其克隆到真核表达质粒中,构建一个含有tk基因片段的高效真核表达载体.方法:根据已发表的HSV-I CL101株tk基因的核苷酸序列,设计并合成了一对引物,以HSV-I Stocker株核酸为模板,进行PCR扩增,并将扩增产物连接到pUCll9中,进行序列分析,将此基因进一步克隆到含巨细胞病毒极早期启动子的真核表达质粒pCR3-Uni中,并对重组子进行酶切鉴定.结果:PGR扩增出1.427Kb大小的片段,通过酶切和序列分析证明含完整的tk基因序列,此序列与CL101株tk基因的同源性为98.5%.酶切证实了构建的真核表达载体株的同源性很高,重组子pCR3-tk含tk基因并获得了正向重组子.结论:克隆的HSV-I Stocker株tk基因与CL101株的同源性很高,重组于pCR3-tk是一种高效真核表达载体,这为今后应用非病毒载体特别是脂质体进行基因转导来研究HSV-tk/CCV系统在肿瘤基因治疗中的应用打下了基础.