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Biological Characterization of a Leukemogenic Virus Isolated from the CFW Mouse¹

Cancer Research Laboratory, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5B7

Extracts of thymic lymphomas induced by dimethylbenz(a)-anthracene are leukemogenic when injected into intrarenal thymic grafts. Tumor cell lines established in vitro from tumors induced by such extracts were found to release virus with the properties of a C-type particle. This tissue culture-derived virus (virus produced by tissue culture cell lines established from tumors induced by cell-free tumor extracts or tissue culture cell supernatants) is highly leukemogenic (minimum infectious titer of 1.6 x 10⁶ IU/ml) when injected into a 24-hr-old thymus graft placed under the kidney capsule of a normal 6-week-old adult. The latent period (time in days to tumor detection in 50% of the injected grafts using undiluted tissue culture virus preparations) is very short (30 days postinjection). Thymic lymphomas induced by both virus isolated from dimethylbenz(a)anthracene-induced tumor virus cells and virus produced by tissue culture cell lines established from tumors induced by cell-free tumor extracts or tissue culture cell supernatants have been characterized as T-cell thymomas. Productive infection with either of the viral isolates could not be initiated on any of a wide variety of tissue culture cell lines under conditions that readily permitted the recovery of xenotropic and ecotropic type C viruses in control experiments. The data indicate that, unlike radiation leukemia virus, the leukemogenic virus produced by tissue culture cell lines established from tumors induced by cell-free tumor extracts or tissue culture cell supernatants does not infect cell lines in culture. Unlike radiation leukemia virus, virus isolated from dimethylbenz(a)anthracene-induced tumor virus cells does not appear to be accompanied by detectable and/or recoverable levels of xenotropic or ecotropic type C viruses.

The leukemogenic virus produced by the established tumor cell lines has a buoyant density and RNA genome characteristic of C-type particles. Polyacrylamide-sodium dodecyl sulfate gel analysis of the viral proteins indicated a markedly altered pattern of gag-coded proteins compared to those of the xenotropic virus induced from a lymphoid-derived cell line established from CFW/D mice.

¹ This is Paper 1 of the series. Supported by the National Cancer Institute of Canada.

² To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at Cancer Research Laboratory, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5B7.

Received 6/21/78. Accepted 5/ 8/79.

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