Transformation of mouse mammary epithelial cells by papovavirus SV40

Primary and established murine mammary epithelial cells and wild-type SV40 were employed to study the phenomenon of epithelial cell transformation. Thirteen independent transformed cell lines were derived. All contained SV40 intranuclear T antigen. Eight transformed mammary cell lines were examined ultrastructurally and all were found to exhibit pronounced epithelial cell characteristics, including desmosomes and tight junctions. Growth studies revealed that while normal mammary cells were unable to grow in low serum (2% FBS), established Cl S1 mammary cells and SV40-transformed mammary epithelial cells replicated well. Cell densities achieved by the transformants were only slightly elevated in high serum (13% FBS) over normal cell values. All the transformants formed colonies on plastic and exhibited anchorage-independent growth in methylcellulose. Five of the transformed lines were tumorigenic in syngeneic animals, in marked contrast to the lack of transplantability usually observed with SV40-transformed mouse fibroblasts. Anchorage-independent growth was not a predictor of tumorigenic potential in this system. The transformants exhibited a spectrum of responsiveness to exogenous growth factors. This study establishes that the SV40-murine mammary cell system is a valid model for analyses of the process and consequences of epithelial cell transformation, in general, and mammary cell transformation in particular.     

Anchorage independence: analysis of factors affecting the growth and colony formation of wild-type and dl 54/59 mutant SV40-transformed lines.

We have studied in detail the parameters of anchorage-independent growth of normal rat cells and two clones of simian virus 40 (SV40)-transformed rat fibroblasts. Normal secondary rat embryo fibroblasts (REF) suspended in soft agar neither form large colonies (greater than 0.2-mm in diameter) nor show any appreciable increase in total cell volume. A clone of wild-type SV40-transformed REF grows in agar with a colony-forming efficiency of 54% and an increase in total cell volume greater than 10³. A clone of REF transformed by the SV40 early deletion mutant 884 has a colony-forming efficiency in agar of only 0.02%, but the total increase in cell volume is greater than 100-fold. In defining anchorage transformants, a distinction must be made between the ability to form large colonies and the ability to undergo a significant number of doublings. Transformation by the viable deletion mutant 884 apparently is impaired far more in the former aspect than in the latter.     

Establishment and characterization of a human glioblastoma cell line with a stable karyotype and nullisomy 13

A permanent cell line (HeRo) with a stable karyotype (80-84,XXYY) and with defined numerical and structural chromosome aberrations was established from a human glioblastoma, a highly malignant brain tumor. Transformation of these cells with SV40 led to a second permanent cell line (HeRo-SV) with a reduced, but also stable, karyotype (72-74,XXYY). The morphological appearance of the glioblastoma line was similar to the main component of the original tumor tissue. The transformed cells differed from their counterparts in accelerated growth, enhanced growth in soft agar, reduced growth conditions, expression of SV40 T antigen, and altered epitheloid morphology. Both cell lines have been grown in continuous culture for more than 2 years. The stability of both the biologic properties and the karyotypic changes induced by SV40 is quite remarkable. Both lines show a nullisomy 13.     

Transforming potential of deletion mutants of the SV40 T antigen coding gene in Syrian hamster cells

Thymidine kinase-deficient syrian hamster cells were cotransfected with recombinant plasmids containing the thymidine kinase (TK) gene of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1, and either intact or partially deleted SV40 T antigen-coding genes. The transformants were selected by their ability to grow in gHAT medium. After selection and cloning, the TK-positive transformants that also expressed T antigen were tested for the extent of their transformation with respect to a number of characteristics, which included saturation density, ability to grow in soft agar, resistance to butyrate and to dibutyryl-cAMP, and plating efficiency. The combined results of these various tests indicate that cells containing partially deleted SV40 T antigen-coding genes are less transformed than cells containing an intact SV40 T antigen-coding gene. However, the amounts of T antigen are lower in cells transformed by deletion mutants than in cells transformed by wild-type T antigen-coding gene. Our data indicate that both the quantity and the quality of T antigen may be important in determining the degree of transformation in Syrian hamster cells.     

Porcine vascular smooth muscle cells immortalized with SV40 ori-defective DNA: Characteristics of cell growth and collagen synthesis

A cell line derived from medial smooth muscle cells (SMC) was established from the porcine coronary artery by transfection with ori-defective simian virus 40 plasmid DNA (SV40 DNA). The characteristics of transfected cells (SV40-SMC) such as cell growth, collagen and non-collagen syntheses were investigated. SV40-SMC expressed SV40 large T antigen, c-myc and c-myb encoded proteins in the nuclei. SV40-SMC demonstrated a ‘hills and valleys’ -like arrangement in overconfluence and actin filaments upon immunofluorescent staining. Under electron microscopic observation, SV4O-SMC had larger amounts of synthetic organelles and smaller amounts of filament bundles than those of SMC. SV40-SMC demonstrated three times higher growth activity and 4.4 times greater cellular density than SMC. Smooth muscle cells did not grow in media containing 5% plasma derived serum (PDS) instead of normal serum, whereas SV40-SMC proliferated in this medium. SV40-SMC did not grow in soft agar gel, while HeLa S3 cells, a cell line of human cervical carcinoma, formed colonies in this gel. By immunofluorescent (IF) staining, collagen phenotypes I, Ill, IV and V were detected in both SV4O-SMC and SMC. However protein synthesis including collagen and non-collagen was higher in SV40-SMC than in the control sample. It was concluded that SV40-SMC were a continuous cell line for vascular SMC regarding morphological characteristics, and demonstrated a higher growth activity, with increased collagen and noncollagen syntheses. This cell line is useful for the investigation of atherogenesis in relation to a proliferation of SMC and an accumulation of extracellular matrices in vascular Intima.     

Biological Properties of Two Strains of Simian Virus 40 Isolated from Patients with Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy

Biological properties of two strains of simian virus 40 (SV40) from brains of two patients with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) have been compared to those of a standard laboratory strain of SV40. Infectivity of both SV40-PML viruses was resistant to treatment with chloroform, low pH, and 50 C for 120 min. African green monkey kidney and BSC-1 cells were the most sensitive for viral replication, and cytopathology in these cultures was indistinguishable from that caused by SV40. Both viruses formed plaques in these cells. but, in African green monkey kidney cells, strain 1 virus produced plaques measuring 2 mm in diameter whereas strain 2 virus produced pleomorphic plaques varying from 1 to 10 mm in diameter. Hamster cells were not permissive for viral replication, and infection resulted only in viral transformation. Inoculation of human fetal glial cells resulted in a permissive lytic infection of one cell type and a persistent infection with only partial expression of the viral genome in the other. No morphological evidence of transformation was evident in the latter cells. Both strains of SV40-PML viruses were neutralized by commercial anti-SV40 serum, but in reciprocal kinetic neutralization tests differences in K values were noted when each was compared to SV40. Both viruses showed oncogenicity for hamsters, producing undifferentiated sarcomas when injected subcutaneously and choroid plexus papillomas after intracerebral inoculation. All hamster tumor cells contained intranuclear immunofluorescent tumor antigen. This was indistinguishable from SV40 T antigen in reciprocal staining reactions using hamster anti-T antibody induced by the two SV40-PML agents and SV40. These two human agents appear therefore to be new variants of simian virus 40.     

Increased growth of permanent mouse fibroblasts in soft agar after transfection with hepatitis B virus DNA

Summary Previously we have shown that a nontumorigenic mouse hepatocyte line harboring simian virus 40 large tumor antigen (SV 40 TAg) could be converted to a full-malignant phenotype by transfection with HBV DNA. Using a permanent SV 40 TAg-negative mouse fibroblast cell line (LTK^–), we studied whether the in vitro-oncogenicity of HBV was dependent on simultaneous expression of SV 40 TAg or not. Three fibroblast lines stably transfected by full-length HBV DNA formed four times more colonies of large size in soft agar than nontransfected LTK^– cells. All three clones expressed high levels of HBx protein, but variable levels of other HBV proteins. A second type of clone that was transfected by a partial HBV genome and that expressed HBV surface but no HBx proteins, did not acquire increased growth in soft agar. These data reveal that HBV DNA can enhance malignant growth independent of SV 40 TAg and suggest that HBx protein may act as an HBV oncogene at least in vitro.     

Isolation of simian virus 40-transformed inbred hamster cell lines heterogeneous for virus induction by chemicals or radiation.

Cloned cell lines have been isolated after simian virus 40 (SV40) transformation of kidney cells of an inbred hamster strain. Considerable heterogeneity for the induction of infectious virus was observed between the lines, ranging from the spontaneous production of infectious virus to nonproducer characteristics. In spite of their differences in virus inducibility, all the clones were found to contain equivalent small numbers of SV40 genomes (1–2) per cell as measured by C₀t analysis. The induction of infectious virus was studied after treating these clones with four agents that cause strand breakage either directly or indirectly in DNA: mitomycin C, BrdU and visible light, uv irradiation or ⁶⁰Co γ-irradiation. A direct dose-response relationship was established between virus yield and dose of inducing agent used. Yields of infectious virus in induced cells were increased by factors of 10³–10⁴ compared to untreated cultures. In producer cell lines the percentage of induced cells was estimated to be 2–6% as determined by V antigen production or infectious center formation after treatment with the most effective inducing agent, mitomycin C. Our studies suggest that DNA damage and single-strand break formation may be early events in the induction of infectious SV40 from transformed cells by chemical and physical agents.     

The effect of caffeine on the ultraviolet light induction of SV40 virus from transformed hamster cells.

The effect of caffeine on the uv light induction of SV40 virus from two transformed hamster cell lines heterogeneous for the induction of infectious virus was studied. The amount of virus induced was significantly increased in both cell lines when exposure to uv light was followed by treatment with caffeine. Caffeine in the absence of uv irradiation did not stimulate virus induction, nor did it stimulate SV40 replication in a lytic infection. There was an apparent difference in the concentrations of caffeine which maximally stimulated SV40 virus induction in the two cell lines. This effect could not be explained by differences in cell survival after exposure to uv light and caffeine. Since caffeine is known to cause the accumulation of gaps formed in DNA during postreplication repair of uv-irradiated rodent cells, our results support the hypothesis that the formation of gaps or breaks in DNA is an important early step in virus induction.     

Factors affecting the frequency of transformation of rat embryo cells by simian virus 40.

The transformation of primary rat cells into established cell lines by simian virus 40 has been monitored using the different restrictive assays of colony formation in sparse culture, dense colony or focus formation on a confluent cell sheet, and colony formation in semisolid medium. Primary embryonic rat cell cultures are considerably less susceptivle to infection and subsequent transformation than the established mouse 3T3 cell line or later in vitro passages of rat cells. These embryonic cells show a stage-specific susceptibility to transformation but not to infection with a maximum susceptibility achieved at the 15th to 16th days of gestation. All transformed cell lines derived by SV40 infection of primary rat cells express viral T antigen as detected by immunofluorescence, though they differ greatly in their plating efficiency in semisolid medium containing methycellulose. Only the assay of colony formation in semisolid medium selects directly for transformants which plate well in that medium while all assays appear to select for cell lines containing viral T antigen.     

Nonintegrated viral DNA in rat cells doubly transformed by SV40 and polyoma virus.

Rat F2408 cells transformed by polyoma virus contain, in addition to integrated viral genomes, a small number (an average of 20–50 copies per cell) of nonintegrated viral DNA molecules. On the other hand, SV40-transformed rat cells contain only integrated viral genomes. SV40-transformed rat cells also differ from the polyoma transformants, in that they grow in soft agar medium at a much slower rate. Cells doubly transformed by polyoma and SV40 can be easily isolated following polyoma superinfection of SV40-transformed rat cells, as their rate of growth in agar is enhanced. These doubly transformed cells yield polyoma or SV40, respectively, after fusion with cells permissive for each virus. However, only polyoma-specific DNA sequences can be detected in these cells in a “free” state.     

人脑肿瘤组织中SV40感染及其临床意义

目的 探讨猴病毒40（SV40）与人脑肿瘤发病的关系。方法 采用聚 一等奖反应（PCR）和原杂交（ISH）同时检测30例正常人脑组织和198例人及脑肿瘤组织以及SHG44和BT3 25两株人脑胶质瘤细胞系中SV40 DNA充列;并对SV40 DNA阳性肿瘤细胞采用免疫共沉淀和Western blot检测大T抗原（Tag）的表达及Tag-RB复合物的存在。结果 人脑肿瘤组织PCR SV40 DNA阳性率为48.5％（96／198）,其中胶质瘤47.2％（42／89）,脑膜瘤48.8％（21／43）,脑垂体腺瘤51. 4%(18/35),神经鞘瘤43.8％（7／16）,先天性肿瘤53.3％（8／15）,正常人脑组织PCR SV40 DNA阳性率为6.7％（2／30）。SHG44及BT325两株细胞中也分别检测出SV40的DNA序列。人脑肿瘤组织SV40 DNA阳性率显著高于正常人脑组织（P＜0.01）。经ISH,仅在96例PCR SV40 DNA阳性的及脑肿瘤组织中检出87例阳性,2例SV40 DNA阳性的正常人脑组织中1例ISH阳性,SHG44及BT325两株细胞ISH SV40 DNA均阳性。SV40 DNA定位于肿瘤细胞核,阳性细胞呈弥温或片灶状分布。96人列SV40 DNA阳性脑瘤组织Tag表达阳性75例,所有Tag表达阳性瘤组织均发现Tag与RB形成特异性复合物。结论 人脑肿瘤组织中存在SV40感染,提示SV40感染与有脑肿瘤有关;在人脑肿瘤组织中Tag广泛表达,Tag可能是SV40在有禽肿瘤发生发展中起作用的重要因素,S V40 Tag与RB形成特异性复合物Tag-RB,导致RB活性,有是SV40致人脑肿瘤发生的一个重要机理。     

Replicative functions of the SV40(cT)-3 mutant defective for nuclear transport of T antigen

The SV40(cT)-3 mutant is defective in transport of SV40 large tumor antigen (T-ag) to the nucleus. Several properties of T-ag associated with SV40 lytic infection and attributed to its nuclear localization were examined to determine whether biologically significant levels of the mutant T-ag (cT-ag) that were immunologically undetectable were transported to the nucleus in SV40(cT)-3-infected TC-7 cells. SV40(cT)-3 was defective in regulation of T-ag synthesis and initiation of viral DNA synthesis. These defects were presumably due to the lack of nuclear transport of cT-ag, since cT-ag was capable of interacting with the SV40 origin of viral DNA synthesis in a solution binding assay. The level of fatty acid acylation, a modification specific for the cell surface associated T-ag, was not affected by the cT mutation. The cT mutation sufficiently suppressed the nuclear transport of wild-type (WT) T-ag in SV40(cT)-3-infected COS-1 cells to result in the cessation of WT-T-ag-stimulated SV40(cT)-3 viral DNA synthesis. These results are discussed with respect to the recent findings that SV40(cT)-3 is fully competent for the transformation of established cell lines and the induction of cellular DNA synthesis in quiescent cells.     

Malignant transformation of human diploid fibroblasts and suppression of their anchorage independence by introduction of chromosome 13.

Isolation of cell lines that display various degrees of transformed phenotypes may be very useful to clarify multistep mechanisms of oncogenesis, but malignant transformation of human diploid fibroblasts in culture is a very rare event. We attempted to isolate variously transformed cell lines from human diploid fibroblasts (RB) of a patient with hereditary retinoblastoma. The RB cells exhibited normal karyotypes with the exception of one copy of chromosome 13, which contained a large deletion at the q14-22 region, where the RB1 gene is located. By transfection with SV40 early genes and repeated passage, we succeeded in obtaining SV40-transfected mortal, immortalized, anchorage-independent, and tumorigenic RB cell lines. DNA fingerprinting showed that these cell lines were not contaminants, but derivatives of the original RB cells. The remaining RB1 allele may be wild-type even in the malignant cell lines, because the expression and the LT-binding ability were normal. Furthermore, we did not find any homozygous loss in 16 polymorphic markers located in the 13q14-22 region in the transformed cell lines. However, introduction of a copy of a normal chromosome 13 into the anchorage-independent cell line suppressed its anchorage-independent growth ability. All these data, together with the fact that the RB cells containing the deletion progressed to a tumorigenic state spontaneously, but normal fibroblasts did not, raise the possibility that a new tumor suppressor gene, located at 13q14-22, may play a critical role in neoplastic transformation. We conclude that these RB cell lines provide an excellent system for identification of genes involved in malignant transformation of human cells. Genes Chromosomes Cancer 26:47-53, 1999.     

Transformation of rabbit arterial smooth muscle cells with Simian virus 40

Summary In vitro studies were carried out to induce viral transformation of vascular smooth muscle cells. Cultured rabbit arterial smooth muscle cells were infected with simian virus 40 (SV 40), and transformed cultures were produced that exhibit altered morphology, increased growth rate and plating efficiency, growth on semi-solid substrate, and chromosomal abnormalities. Nuclear SV 40 T-antigen was detected in all cells of these cultures. Muscle-specific actin was identified by a specific monoclonal antibody suggesting retention of smooth muscle cell characteristics by the transformed cells. Significant cytoplasmic lipid accumulation occurred in transformed cells incubated with -very low density lipoprotein, as revealed both by chemical analyses and Nile Red lipid staining of the cultures. The transformed smooth muscle cells grow permanently in cell culture. Our investigations show that arterial smooth muscle cells transformed with SV 40 virus exhibit altered phenotypic properties distinct from that of normal arterial smooth muscle cells.     

Establishment of transformed swine fibroblast cell lines using SV40 large T antigen

Summary Swine testicle cell lines were established by transformation of primary swine testicle (PST) cells with an SV40 plasmid (pSV3-neo), which contains genes conferring resistance to neomycin and expressing SV40 large T antigen. Plasmid DNA was transfected into PST cells using a lipofection system. Two related plasmids, pSV2-neo and pSV5-neo, failed to induce transformed cells. Cells transformed with pSV3-neo formed single colonies that were resistant to the antibiotic, G418, and expressed large T antigen. Upon two cycles of cloning by endpoint dilution method, three transformed clones, designated transformed swine testicle (tST)-3, tST-14 and tST-18, were selected and characterized in regards to cell replication and susceptibility to swine viruses. The resultant clones were compared with a counterpart non-transformed ST cell line (ATCC-ST). The three tST cell lines showed longer or the same doubling times and higher saturation densities compared to ATCC-ST cells. These cells were free from a range of adventitious agents and supported the replication of porcine parvovirus (PPV), pseudorabies virus (PRV) and transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), comparable to ATCC-ST cells. All three cell lines have been maintained in continuous cultures for over 60 passages with no changes in growth characteristics. These findings indicate that lipofection with pSV3-neo is an efficient means for the introduction of exogenous DNA into porcine cells and for establishment of transformed immortalized cell lines.     

The archetype enhancer of simian virus 40 DNA is duplicated during virus growth in human cells and rhesus monkey kidney cells but not in green monkey kidney cells

Archetype SV40, obtained directly from its natural host, is characterized by a single 72-bp enhancer element. In contrast, SV40 grown in cell culture almost invariably exhibits partial or complete duplication of the enhancer region. This distinction has been considered important in studies of human tumor material, since SV40-associated tumor isolates have been described having a single enhancer region, suggesting natural infection as opposed to possible contamination by laboratory strains of virus. However, the behavior of archetypal SV40 in cultured cells has never been methodically studied. In this study we reengineered nonarchetypal 776-SV40 to contain a single 72-bp enhancer region and used this reengineered archetypal DNA to transfect a number of simian and human cell lines. SV40 DNA recovered from these cells was analyzed by restriction endonuclease analysis, PCR, and DNA sequencing. Reengineered archetype SV40 propagated in green monkey TC-7 or BSC-1 kidney cells remained without enhancer region duplication even after extensive serial virus passage. Archetype SV40 grown in all but one of the rhesus or human cell lines initially appeared exclusively archetypal. However, when virus from these cell types was transferred to green monkey cells, variants with partial enhancer duplication appeared after as little as a single passage. These findings suggest (1) that virus with a single 72-bp enhancer may persist in cultured cells of simian and human origin; (2) that variants with partially duplicated enhancer regions may arise within cell lines in quantities below limits of detection; (3) that these variants may enjoy a selective advantage in cell types other than those from which they arose (e.g., green monkey kidney cells); and (4) that certain cell lines may support a selective growth advantage for the variants without supporting their formation. Our data indicate that enhancer duplication may also occur in human as well as rhesus kidney cells. Thus, detection of enhancer region duplication may not, a priori, indicate laboratory contamination, nor does detection of a single 72-bp enhancer exclude the possibility that contamination may have occurred. These findings may be of relevance to studies attempting to detect SV40 DNA in human tumors or other clinical specimens.     

A comparison of human papovavirus T antigens.

A comparison was made of the T antigens induced in transformed cells or infected permissive cells by representatives of three categories of human papovavirus. The transformed hamster cell lines employed contained T antigen induced by either the BK or RF strains of papovavirus associated with human renal allografts; the JC strain of papovavirus from progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), or a variant of SV40 virus isolated from PML. The human papovavirus T antigens were also compared with that of a human cell line transformed by SV40 of simian origin. Anti-T antibody prepared in hamsters against each of the hamster cell lines was absorbed with crude T antigen from each cell line, and the unabsorbed and absorbed antisera were tested for residual T antibody against each cell line, or against infected permissive cells by immunoperoxidase (IP) staining and complement-fixation (CF) tests. In unabsorbed antisera, T antibodies from each cell line cross-reacted with all T antigens in IP tests, and CF tests showed that T antisera reacted preferentially with T antigen induced by homologous virus. Absorpminants. T antigens of the two urine-derived strains, BK and RF, were identical or nearly so, but were clearly separable from T antigens of JC virus, PML-derived SV40 or simian-derived SV40. JC T antigen was intermediate, being more closely related to T antigens both of BK virus and SV40 virus than the latter were to each other. The T antigen of PML-derived SV40 could be distinguished from the T antigen of simian-derived SV40 and the T antigen of the SV40 variant from human brain was more closely related to those of the other human-derived papovaviruses than was the T antigen of SV40 from monkey kidney.     

SV40-mediated tumor selection and chromosome transfer to enrich for cystic fibrosis region

The somatic cell hybrid C121, with chromosome 7 as its sole human component, arose when mouse macrophages were immortalized by fusion with SV40-transformed human fibroblasts. The transforming SV40 genomes are integrated at 7q31-7q35. We show that hybrids with a reduced chromosome 7 component, but which retain markers linked to the cystic fibrosis locus, can be generated by direct in vivo tumor selection or following chromosome-mediated gene transfer and SV40-mediated cellular transformation. Our methods for chromosome fragmentation and fine-structure mapping can now be applied to the substantial number of SV40-transformed human cell lines, with independent chromosomal integration sites, already available. Our results also suggest that expression of human epidermal growth factor receptor augments the tumorigenic potential of the SV40-transformed C121 hybrid.