Variation in the oncogenic potential of human adenoviruses carrying a defective SV40 genome (PARA).

The acquisition of the defective SV40 genome by a variety of human adenovirus serotypes by the process of transcapsidation has resulted in the addition of oncogenic potential for newborn hamsters to the previously nononcogenic adenovirus types 1, 2, 5, and 6. These serotypes have previously been grouped together by the high GC content of their DNA. Transcapsidation of the SV40 genome to weakly oncogenic adenovirus types 3, 14, 16, and 21 has failed to increase their oncogenic potential although the parent adenovirus type 7 carrying PARA is highly oncogenic. These serotypes belong to the group possessing a DNA of intermediate GC content. All the PARA-adenovirus populations, even those that were nononcogenic, were able to induce SV40 transplantation immunity and therefore carry the SV40 transplantation marker as well as the marker for synthesis of SV40 tumor or T antigen.

Measles virus: an unwanted variant causing hydrocephalus.

Mutagenization of measles virus with proflavine produced a temperature-sensitive mutant capable of inducing hydrocephalus following intracranial inoculation of newborn hamsters. Hydrocephalus was not produced by the parental strain or by other measles virus mutants. Thus, mutants can be the causative agents of disease not associated with the parental strain. The results dictate caution in the use and distribution of experimentally induced virus variants.

Cytomegalovirus: conversion of nonpermissive cells to a permissive state for virus replication.

Human embryonic kidney cells are epithelioid cells which are normally nonpermissive for in vitro replication of human cytomegalovirus. These cells were converted to a permissive state for the virus by prior treatment with 5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine. When this method was used, a nonpermissive cell was made permissive to an infecting virus.

Immunologic manipulation of metastases due to herpesvirus transformed cells.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), type 2 (HSV-2), and simian virus 40 (SV40) fail to induce immunity in weanling Syrian hamsters to transplant of hamster cells transformed by HSV-2. However, the development of metastatic tumors is markedly enhanced by prior immunization with HSV-1. Immunization with SV40, ultraviolet-irradiated tumor cells, or ultraviolet-irradiated normal hamster embryo cells inhibits the development of metastases. The HSV-hamster system appears a good one for the study of development, prevention, and control of metastases by mammalian cells transformed by a common human virus.

Trigeminal ganglion infection by thymidine kinase-negative mutants of herpes simplex virus.

The incidence of trigeminal ganglion infection after corneal inoculation of guinea pigs with thymidine kinase-negative mutants of herpes simplex virus was markedly reduced compared to infection after inoculation of thymidine kinase-positive virus. Thymidine kinase-negative herpes simplex virus replicated well in ocular tissues in which dividing or potentially dividing cells were present, but not in trigeminal ganglion infection of nondividing neurons. Thymidine kinase-positive virus, however, replicated well in ocular tissues as well as in trigeminal ganglion. These results suggest that thymidine kinase expression of herpes simplex virus may be important in infections of sensory ganglia.

Oncogenic transformation of human embryo lung cells by human cytomegalovirus.

Persistent infection of human embryo lung fibroblasts with a genital isolate of cytomegalovirus resulted in oncogenic transformation of these cells. Immunofluorescence techniques detected virus-specific antigens, while microcytotoxicity tests established that the transformed cells share a membrane antigen with hamster cells transformed by inactivated cytomegalovirus. The transformed human cells induced progressively growing tumors in weanling athymic nude mice.

Replication of adenovirus type 7 in monkey cells: a new determinant and its transfer to adenovirus type 2.

A strain of human adenovirus type 7, adapted to replication in green-monkey kidney cells, requires the interaction of two particles to initiate plaque formation in the simian cells. One particle is a true adenovirion. The second, apparently defective, consists of a genome carrying amonkey-adapting component in an adenovirus capsid; this genome does not express known SV40 determinants. The addition of human adenovirus type 7 that is not adapted enhances the titer and changesconditions for plaque formation by the adapted virus to a one-particle requirement. Addition of nonadapted human adenovirus type 2 as helper virus results in the transfer of the monkey-adaptingcomponent from adenovirus type 7 to adenovirus type 2. The population containing the adenovirus 2 transcapsidant then has the ability to replicate in simian cells.

High efficiency latency and activation of herpes simplex virus in human cells.

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) exists in humans in a latent form that can be activated. To characterize the molecular basis of the cell-virus interactions and to analyze the state of the latent HSV genome, an in vitro model system was established. In this system a large fraction of the latently infected cells contain an HSV genome that can be activated. Cell survival was reduced minimally after repression of high multiplicity HSV type 1 (HSV-1) infection of human fibroblast cells with (E)-5-(2-bromovinyl)-2'-deoxyuridine in combination with human leukocyte interferon (IFN-alpha). A minimum of 1 to 3 percent of the surviving cells contained an HSV genome that could be activated either by human cytomegalovirus superinfection or reduction in incubation temperature.

Tumorigenicity of herpesvirus-transformed cells correlates with production of plasminogen activator.

Our studies first demonstrated that established hamster cell lines transformed in vitro by herpesviruses activate plasminogen more effectively than normal hamster fibroblasts. This ability is probably due to increased levels of the enzyme plasminogen activator (PA). In the studies described here, the 333-8-9 cell line, originally transformed by herpes simplex virus type 2 strain 333, was used to derive subclonal lines that maintained stable PA phenotypes over the course of long in vitro passage. We were interested in correlating tumor formation by the subclones with their fibrinolytic capacity. Cells were, therefore, single-cell subcloned twice, and resulting cultures were tested for ability to activate plasminogen in vitro. PA activity was then quantitated by [125I]fibrin lysis assay, and high- and low-activity subclones were isolated; these retained high- or low-activity phenotypes. Syngeneic newborn hamsters were inoculated with these subclones and observed for the appearance of palpable tumors. A strong correlation between enzyme activity and tumor formation was observed in four separate trials; animals receiving high-PA subclones developed tumors more rapidly than those inoculated with the parental cell line. Tumors were also excised from test animals, and the cell lines established from the tumors were tested in vitro at different passages for their ability to activate plasminogen. These tumor cells were then reinoculated into syngeneic animals to confirm the tumorigenicity of cell lines with high fibrinolytic activity. In these experiments, the positive correlation between PA production and tumorigenicity was confirmed.

Bothrops fonsecai snake venom activities and cross-reactivity with commercial bothropic venom.

In this work, we examined some biochemical and biological activities of Bothrops fonsecai venom, a pitviper endemic to southeastern Brazil, and assessed their neutralization by commercial bothropic antivenom (CAv). Cross-reactivity of venom with CAv was also assessed by immunoblotting and size-exclusion high performance chromatography (SE-HPLC). Bothrops fonsecai venom had PLA2, proteolytic and esterase activities that were neutralized to varying extents by venom:antivenom ratios of 5:1 and 5:2 (PLA2 and esterase activities) or not significantly by either venom:antivenom ratio (proteolytic activity). The minimum hemorrhagic dose (69.2µg) was totally neutralized by both ratios. Clotting time in rat citrated plasma was 33±10.5s (mean±SD; n=5) and was completely neutralized by a 5:2 ratio. Edema formation was dose-dependent (1-30µg/site) and significantly inhibited by both ratios. Venom (10-300µg/mL) caused neuromuscular blockade in extensor digitorum longus preparations; this blockade was inhibited best by a 5:2 ratio. Venom caused myonecrosis and creatine kinase release in vivo (gastrocnemius muscle) and in vitro (extensor digitorum longus) that was effectively neutralized by both venom:antivenom ratios. Immunoblotting showed that venom components of ~25-100kDa interacted with CAv. SE-HPLC profiles for venom incubated with CAv or specific anti-B. fonsecai antivenom raised in rabbits (SAv) indicated that CAv had a higher binding capacity than SAv, whereas SAv had higher affinity than CAv. These findings indicate that B. fonsecai venom contains various activities that are neutralized to different extents by CAv and suggest that CAv could be used to treat envenoming by B. fonsecai.

Human cells transformed in vitro by human cytomegalovirus: tumorigenicity in athymic nude mice.

Athymic nude mice were inoculated with human embryo lung cells transformed in vitro by human cytomegalovirus (CMV). Of the inoculated animals, 62% developed tumors after an average latent period of 19 days. The tumors were composed of small, polygonal cells with large nulei and scanty cytoplasm embedded in an abundant collagenous matrix. The cells were poorly differentiated but may have been of epithelial origin. Adjacent structures were rarely invaded. CMV-related intracellular and membrane antigens were detected by indirect and anticomplement immunofluorescence techniques in cells cultured in vitro from the tumors.

Chromosome aberrations in Syrian hamster embryo cells transformed after exposure to ultraviolet-irradiated herpes simplex virus type 1 or 2.

Six Syrian hamster embryo cell lines (14-012-8-1, KOS-6-1, 333-8-9, 333-2-29, MS-4-1, FR-6-1), developed after exposure of primary cultures to different strains of UV-irradiated herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 or 2, were analyzed for chromosome aberrations. All the cell lines showed chromosome stability (number of chromosomes were maintained within a narrow range of variation in the diploid region) and a low incidence of polyploids, endoreduplications, and metaphases with pulveration or extensively fragmented chromosomes. The cell lines, passaged over long periods of time in vitro, developed marker chromosomes that suggested a clonal-type evolution of the cell populations. Two cell lines, 333-8-9 and 14-012-8-1, showed two different marker chromosomes with large heterochromatic regions. Chromosomes with abnormal heterochromatic regions, which often appeared like prominent secondary constrictions, were found in all the cell lines we examined. The level of chromosome breakage was low in all the cell lines except the highly tumorigenic cell line 333-2-29, which had a high incidence of cells with single or double chromatinic bodies. The abnormal heterochromatic regions that occurred on marker chromosomes and prominent secondary constrictions were interpreted as a possible chromosomal effect of the HSV. The karyotypic stability and low incidence of open breaks might have been the result of UV irradiation of the HSV.

Detection of virus-specific RNA in herpes simplex virus type 1-transformed hamster cell lines.

In situ hybridization experiments with the use of recombinant herpes simplex virus type 1 DNA as probes have detected virus-specific RNA in herpes simplex virus type 1-transformed Syrian hamster cell lines. The relatively most abundant virus transcripts hybridized to the herpes simplex virus type 1 EcoRI-F fragment at map position 0.32-0.42.

Properties of mouse embryo fibroblasts transformed in vitro by infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus.

Infection of CD-1 mouse embryo fibroblast(s) (MEF) with infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus (IBRV) strain HMC resulted in persistent infection and subsequent transformation of these cells. IBRV-transformed MEF cultures consisted of short fibroblastoid cells, and IBRV-specific membrane and intracellular antigens were detectable in early in vitro passages by indirect imunofluorescence (IF) techniques. The presence of IBRV genetic information was confirmed in IF-positive and IF-negative cells by in situ hybridization. IBRV-transformed MEF induced fibrosarcomas in athymic nude mice given sc transplants. Infectious virus could not be rescued from the transformed cells or from tumor cells by cocultivation with rabbit kidney cells, by treatment with 5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine, or by UV irradiation. Nontransformed control cells did not survive more than 10 in vitro passages and did not induce tumors when transplanted to athymic nude mice. These observations represent new data concerning the mouse cell-transforming potential of IBRV and confirm the presence of at least part of the virus genome in the transformants.

Properties of human epithelioid cells established in vitro by a herpesvirus [IBRV(HMC)] isolated from cytomegalovirus-transformed human cells.

Infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus [IBRV(HMC)], a double-enveloped herpesvirus, was isolated from human embryo lung fibroblasts transformed by cytomegalovirus (CMV). This agent was identified as an IBRV strain that was antigenically related to human CMV. Inoculation of a primary human kidney cancer cell culture with IBRV(HMC) resulted in persistent infection and subsequent establishment of a cell line [IBRV(HMC)HKC-1]. Virus-related nuclear, cytoplasmic, and cell membrane antigens were detected in these cells in early in vitro passages by anticomplement and indirect immunofluorescence tests. Infectious virus was rescued from one of the cell sublines after temperature-shock treatment at passage 26. Karyotypic analysis confirmed the human origin of the cells. Control uninfected kidney cancer cells survived only six in vitro passages. The established cells grew to more than 100 in vitro passages 1 year after initiation of the experiments and induced an epithelioid cancer of variable morphology that infiltrated nerves and muscles when inoculated sc into athymic nude mice.

Experimental evidence for the oncogenic potential of herpes simplex virus.

The data presented in this review reveal the transforming potential and oncogenic capability of herpes simplex viruses in cultured cells and in experimental animals, respectively. Unfortunately, the role of these agents in human cancer, especially cervical, cannot be unequivocally established through the indirect approaches used, but circumstantial evidence that these viruses represent potential oncogens in the human population is mounting.

Enhancement of biochemical transformation of mammalian cells by herpes simplex virus following nitrosomethylurea treatment.

A quantitative assay for the biochemical transformation of thymidine kinaseless mouse cells (N cIA cI10 cells) to an enzyme-positive phenotype by herpes simplex virus has been used to examine the effect of the carcinogen nitrosomethylurea on cell transformation. Exposure of cells to the chemical carcinogen, followed by virus infection, resulted in enhancement of transformation when compared to that seen with virus or chemical alone. Enhancement occurred after doses of nitrosomethylurea that were nontoxic to treated cells. A strong time dependence after treatment was demonstrated for enhancement which was correlated with the presence and excision-repair of alkylated DNA in treated cells.

Production of plasminogen activator by cells transformed by herpesviruses.

Plasminogen activator is produced by hamster cells transformed by human herpesviruses. These cell lines have previously been shown to be oncogenic when injected s.c. into newborn syngeneic hamsters. Lysis of fibrin overlays by these cell lines was plasminogen dependent. Normal hamster embryo fibroblasts and a hamster cell line transformed by PARA-7 (an adenovirus-SV 40 hybrid) failed to produced lysis. In separate experiments fibrin overlay of lytically infected secondary rabbit kidney cells did not show induction of this activity during the normal course of productive infection. The human cell line TE-85 clone F-5, a clonal cell line from a human osteogenic sarcoma, failed to produce plasminogen activator, but two separate clones of these cells that were morphologically transformed after exposure to UV-inactivated herpes simplex virus type 2 produced rapid lysis of the fibrin overlay. Clonal variation was observed in herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2-transformed hamster lines and is under investigation. It is suggested that plasminogen activator detection may serve as a convenient assay system for transformation of normal cells by herpesviruses.

Detection of human immunodeficiency virus-infected lymphoid cells at low frequency by flow cytometry.

Flow cytometric detection of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected lymphoid cells at low frequencies is described. Infected cells from human T lymphoid cell lines H9 and A3.01 were detected at frequencies as low as 10(-4) following indirect immunofluorescence labeling. For labeling, cells were treated with an HIV-inactivating, permeabilizing fixative followed by binding of a monoclonal antibody specific for the HIV major core protein p24, and then by binding of fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated F(ab')2 fragments of goat anti-mouse immunoglobulin antibody. We compared two fixation procedures, one using a mixture of methanol and acetone, the other a three-step fixation using methanol, paraformaldehyde and Triton X-100. The latter fixation protocol was found to be superior in its ability to resolve mixtures of infected and uninfected cells. The method allowed determination of the percentage of the cell population that was infected and the relative amount of p24 antigen per cell. At analysis rates of several thousand cells/s, detection of HIV-infected cells as rare events was possible. Excellent agreement was obtained between flow cytometric evaluation and reverse transcriptase (RT) assay of infected H9 cells cocultured with uninfected H9 cells in various proportions for 7 days. In time course of infection experiments, cultures infected by small numbers of viral particles were positive by flow cytometry up to 3 days earlier than by RT assay.

Establishment of latency in vitro with herpes simplex virus temperature-sensitive mutants at nonpermissive temperature.

This report describes a latency model using human embryo lung cells that were infected with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants and cultivated at nonpermissive temperature (40.5 degrees C). ts mutants tsG8 (parental strain HSV-1 KOS) and tsG5 (parental strain HSV-1 13) could be maintained in a latent state at 40.5 degrees C for at least 40 days without exhibiting virus infectivity. During this time, viable virus could be reactivated by reducing the incubation temperature to the permissive level (34 degrees C). Virus replication could be detected 2 to 6 days after temperature reduction and the virus reactivated from the latent state seemed to retain the same ts phenotype as the input virus for at least 14 days.