Identification of Transforming Genes of Subgroup A and C Strains of Herpesvirus saimiri

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 88; no. 16; pp. 7051 - 7055
• Main Authors: Jung, Jae U., Trimble, John J., King, Norval W., Biesinger, Brigitte, Fleckenstein, Bernhard W., Desrosiers, Ronald C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 15.08.1991; National Acad Sciences
• Subjects: 3T3 cells; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Blotting, Northern; Cell growth; Cell Line; Cell lines; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic - genetics; Cells; DNA; DNA, Viral - genetics; Fibrosarcoma - genetics; Fibrosarcoma - microbiology; Fibrosarcoma - pathology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genes, Viral; Genetics; Herpesvirus 2, Saimiriine - genetics; Mice; Mice, Nude; Microbiology; Neoplasm Transplantation; Open Reading Frames; Plasmids; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Rats; Recombination, Genetic; Restriction Mapping; Retroviridae; RNA; Sarcoma, Experimental - genetics; Sarcoma, Experimental - microbiology; Sarcoma, Experimental - pathology; Transfection; Tumor cell line; Tumors; Virology; Gammaherpesvirinae; Cell culture; Herpesviridae; Rodentia; Tumorigenicity; Cell transformation; In vitro; Biological activity; Open reading frame; Virus; In vivo; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Transfection; Onc gene; Herpesvirus saimiri
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.88.16.7051

Herpesvirus saimiri is an oncogenic herpesvirus that induces rapidly progressing lymphomas in New World primates. Using retrovirus vectors for gene transfer, specific open reading frames of H. saimiri were tested for their ability to transform rodent cells in culture. One open reading frame, designated STP-C488 (for saimiri-transformation-associated protein of the subgroup C strain 488), phenotypically transformed Rat-1 cells, resulting in formation of foci, growth at reduced serum concentration, and growth to higher cell densities. Cells transformed by STP-C488 formed invasive tumors in nude mice. The STP-A11 reading frame of strain 11 (subgroup A) was much less potent in its transforming ability than STP-C488. These results demonstrate the oncogene nature of these two open reading frames and provide a means for studying their transforming functions independent of the rest of the H. saimiri genome.