Responses of serum from breast cancer patients to murine mammary tumor virus: fact or artifact?

For determination of whether breast cancer patients possessed specific serological responses to murine mammary tumor virus (MuMTV), IgG-binding levels were monitored by antibody binding to electrophoretically separated viral proteins (Western blotting and immunodetection) and by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) against a panel of five structural proteins (gp55, gp34, p28, p18, and p12) purified from milk-borne MuMTV of the RIII isogeneic mouse strain. No significant antibody reactions were found for sera from 30 cancer patients by the immunoblotting assay, and comparative ELISA studies of 111 patients with malignant mastopathies and 122 healthy, age-matched women revealed no significantly increased mean antibody responses against gp55, gp34, p28, or p12 in breast cancer patients as compared to the responses in the control group. Only for p18 was there a significant increase in mean IgG-binding levels in cancer patients. Additional assays of antibody binding to viral antigens were performed by the cellular immunofluorescence test on MuMTV-expressing cells. These studies also failed to demonstrate greater immunoreactivity of sera from patients as opposed to the immunoreactivity of sera from healthy controls.

Serologic responses to murine mammary tumor virus (MuMTV) in MuMTV-exposed laboratory personnel.

A retrospective study was conducted to determine whether exposure to murine mammary tumor virus (MuMTV) induced MuMTV-specific serologic responses among intramural laboratory personnel. Results obtained with a panel of five purified structural proteins of the RIII mouse strain milk-derived MuMTV (gp55, gp34, p28, p18, and p12), by means of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to assess antibody binding, established that MuMTV exposure resulted in highly significant increases in serologic responses to these test antigens as compared to age- and gender-matched controls without overt contact with MuMTV. Furthermore, immunoreactions to gp55 and gp34 were found not to be directed to the carbohydrate moieties of these glycoproteins. Similar results were obtained by assays of human immunoglobulin binding to Western blots of MuMTV proteins. These increased MuMTV-specific immunoreactivities, in general, were found to be related to degree and length of exposure to this virus. These results with MuMTV suggest the possibility of important human immune response differences between exposure to type B (MuMTV) and animal type C (leukemia-sarcoma) RNA tumor viruses, perhaps reflective of sensitivity to antibody dependence of complement-induced virolysis.

Proteolytic release of glycopeptides from glycoproteins transferred to nitrocellulose following gel electrophoresis.

To determine whether glycopeptides could be released from glycoproteins bound to nitrocellulose, the glycoproteins of murine mammary tumor virus (MuMTV) were radiolabeled by the periodate oxidation/tritiated sodium borohydride reduction technique and separated by gel electrophoresis followed by diffusion transfer. Pronase digestion of nitrocellulose filter strips containing labeled glycoproteins (gp55 or gp34) revealed a rapid release of glycopeptides, i.e., approximately total release within 4 h. The released glycopeptides were similar in size, as determined by molecular sieving chromatography, to glycopeptides obtained by proteolytic digestion of MuMTV glycoproteins from dried gel strips (A. Zilberstein et al., 1980, Cell 21, 417-427) or in solution (M. J. Yagi et al., 1978, Virology 91, 291-304).

Comparative studies of purified subviral component vaccines and formalin-treated mammary tumor viruses from four inbred strains of mice.

Formalin-treated virus vaccines were prepared from purified murine mammary tumor viruses (MuMTV) from 4 inbred strains of mice: RIII/Imr, GR/Imr, C3H/Imr, and A/Imr. In addition, subviral components were isolated from these 4 strains and purified to homogeneity. The inactivated viruses, their major envelope glycoproteins (gp50-gp55), and their major internal core protein (p28) were emulsified in complete Freund's adjuvant and used as vaccines for prevention of mammary tumors in mice. All 4 Formalin-treated virus vaccines reduced significantly the incidence of mammary tumors in "virus-free" C57BL and BALB/c mice when inoculated prior to challenge with live MuMTV. The RIII-, GR-, and A-MuMTV strains showed extensive heterologous cross-protection, whereas the C3H-MuMTV strain showed significant protection only against C3H- and A-MuMTV challenge. The major viral glycoproteins gp50-gp55 reduced significantly the tumor incidence when mice were challenged with isologous infectious virus after immunization, although these glycoproteins showed different degrees of cross-protection than did the same virus strains used as "intact" but Formalin-treated preparations. RIII-gp55 and GR-gp55 cross-protected against each other but not against challenge with C3H- and A-MuMTV strains; the A-gp50 protected against challenge with A- and RIII-MuMTV strains; C3H-gp55 demonstrated limited activity against C3H-MuMTV challenge only. The internal viral core proteins (p28) were ineffective in all systems studied. The same vaccines were tested in MuMTV-positive, high-tumor-incidence strains from which they were derived. At best, the appearance of spontaneous tumors was delayed in a few experimental sets; eventually, all mice developed mammary tumors. The foster-nursed C3HfC57BL strain of mice, which is not exposed to exogenous MuMTV during suckling and which develops mammary tumors after activation of the endogenous virus genome later in life, was responsive only when the heterologous GR-MuMTV Formalin-treated vaccine was used. The association between the ability of virus vaccines to protect a mouse strain and the degree of natural virus expression in that strain is discussed.

Ammoniacal silver staining of proteins: mechanism of glutaraldehyde enhancement.

When the conditions for detecting proteins by ammoniacal silver staining (B. R. Oakley, D. R. Kirsch, and N. R. Morris (1980) Anal. Biochem. 105, 361-363.) following gel electrophoresis were varied, it was noted that glutaraldehyde pretreatment was necessary for maximal staining, which could not be explained simply as the result of "fixation." Further studies indicated that glutaraldehyde enhancement of protein staining with this silver reagent was probably due to oxidation of the aldehyde groups by silver ions, resulting in metallic silver depositions within the gel which act as nucleation sites for additional metallic silver localization in the protein bands upon the addition of formaldehyde developer. This proposed mechanism is consistent with the Tollen's reaction, as well as some aspects of the photographic process. Consistent with this notion, silver-staining intensities are directly related to mole percentage lysine of various standard proteins.

A human protein related to the major envelope protein of murine mammary tumor virus: identification and characterization.

A human milk protein was isolated to apparent homogeneity and shown to be immunologically related to gp55, the major envelope glycoprotein of murine mammary tumor virus. Through the development of ultrasensitive protocols, which have wide applicability, immunological relatedness was corroborated by the demonstration of homologous protein sequences between the human and viral proteins.

In vivo and in vitro phosphorylation of murine mammary tumour virus proteins.

A comparative study of in vitro and in vivo phosphorylation of murine mammary tumour virus, a type Brna virus, is reported. The protein kinase activity associated with murine mammary tumour virus catalysed the in vitro phosphorylation of endogenous virus polypeptides. This kinase activity required a divalent metal cation, a non-ionic detergent, and was stimulated in the presence of dithiothreitol. Exogenous cyclic AMP was not required. The 32P-labelled products of the in vitro reaction were completely sensitive to pronase digestion and the phosphate was attached mainly by phosphomonoester linkage to serine residues. As determined by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, heterogeneous labelling of major and minor virus polypeptides was observed under in vitro conditions. In contrast, the in vivo labelling of type B virus produced by a continuous cell line (MuMT-73), established from pooled mammary adenocarcinomas of Balb/cfC3H mice, demonstrated specific phosphoproteins associated with murine mammary tumour virus. The major phosphorylated proteins were found to have mol. wt. of 18 000 and 12 000 (p18 and p12) after isolation by molecular sieving chromatography and analysis by gel electrophoresis.

Electrophoretic analysis of the molecular weight of murine mammary tumor virus RNA.

Molecular weight determinations of native and subunit RNAs of murine mammary tumor virus (MuMTV), a type B oncornavirus, were performed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and compared with molecular weights of well-characterized avian cellular RNAs and tobacco mosaic virus RNA. From extrapolations of semilog plots of the molecular weights of the standard RNAs versus relative electrophoretic mobilities and Ferguson plots, the subunit and native RNAs of MuMTV were found to possess molecular weights of 2.93 X 10(6) and 6.45 X 10(6), respectively. These data support the assumption that two subunit molecules comprise the native RNA of MuMTV.