SV40 enhancer and large-T antigen are instrumental in development of choroid plexus tumours in transgenic mice

We have shown recently that choroid plexus tumours frequently develop in transgenic mice which have developed from fertilized eggs injected with DNA molecules containing both simian virus 40 (SV40) early-region genes and metallothionein (MT) fusion genes, and several lines of mice have now been established in which all of the offspring that inherit the foreign DNA succumb to these tumours at 3-5 months of age (ref. 1 and our unpublished data). Several other tissues, notably thymus and kidney, occasionally also show pathological changes. SV40 large-T antigen protein and messenger RNA are always present in affected tissues at much greater concentrations than in unaffected tissues, suggesting that SV40 early-region genes are preferentially activated in choroid plexus, thymus and kidney and that this activation frequently leads to tumorigenesis in the choroid plexus. To determine which regions of the original constructs are important for this tumorigenesis, we have now tested several derivatives and report here that the large-T antigen is sufficient, that the MT fusion gene is dispensable and that the SV40 enhancer (72-base-pair repeat region) has an important role in directing tumours to the choroid plexus. Deletion of the SV40 enhancer region alone commonly leads to peripheral neuropathy, as well as liver and pancreatic tumours, which are the subject of the accompanying paper. Evidence is presented that these pathologies may result from an enhancing effect of the MT sequences on large-T antigen genes, made possible by removal of the otherwise dominant SV40 enhancer.     

Peripheral neuropathies, hepatocellular carcinomas and islet cell adenomas in transgenic mice

The ability to introduce foreign DNA into the genome of mice offers unique opportunities to produce new models of disease process. Recent experiments have shown that integration and expression of simian virus 40 (SV40) T antigen genes and the murine mammary tumour virus (MMTV)-myc genes in transgenic mice can lead to the development of neoplasia in a remarkably tissue-specific manner. In the case of SV40-bearing mice, tumours consistently develop in the choroid plexus. In the accompanying paper, we show that the 72-base pair (bp) enhancer in the SV40 genome is instrumental in directing tumorigenesis to the choroid plexus. However, when the enhancer is deleted from a construction also containing the metallothionein-human growth hormone fusion gene (SV delta e-MGH), an entirely new pattern of pathology results. The present report focuses on transgenic mice carrying this construct; they develop demyelinating peripheral neuropathies, hepatocellular carcinomas and islet cell adenomas.     

Duplications of a mutated simian virus 40 enhancer restore its activity

Enhancers are cis-acting control elements which can stimulate at a distance the activity of a variety of eukaryotic promoters. First identified as a repeated 72 base pair (bp) sequence upstream of the simian virus 40 (SV40) early gene promoter, enhancers have since been shown to be associated with numerous other viral and cellular genes. Although there are no strong homologies between the sequences of different enhancers, a number of short and degenerate consensus sequences have been identified, including the 'core' element GTGGA/TA/TA/TG and stretches of alternating purines and pyrimidines which may have the potential to form left-handed Z DNA. To study the functional significance of two alternating purine and pyrimidine sequences in the SV40 enhancer, we have introduced various combinations of point mutations into a modified SV40 enhancer which contained only one copy of the 72 bp element (W.H., Y.G., A. Nordheim and A. Rich, unpublished results); one of these combinations impaired both the activity of the enhancer and growth of SV40. We describe here the structure of 18 revertants of this mutant and suggest that in each of the 18 revertants, the defects of the original mutant have been overcome by simple tandem duplications in the enhancer region, all of which include the 'core' element.     

Glucocorticoids regulate expression of dihydrofolate reductase cDNA in mouse mammary tumour virus chimaeric plasmids

Fusions between the mouse mammary tumour virus long terminal repeat and a mouse dihydrofolate reductase cDNA have been constructed in a SV40 vector. When these plasmids are transferred into recipient cells, the production of dihydrofolate reductase is regulated by glucocorticoid hormones. These results define a hormonally responsive region of the viral genome.     

猕猴肉瘤病毒SV40 T-ag-C 基因克隆及序列分析

摘要: 目的对来源于一株自然感染猕猴肉瘤病毒SV40 的猴肾细胞培养物进行大T 抗原C-羧基端( T-ag-C) 基因 克隆及核苷酸序列分析。方法采用PCR 法分别从一株自然感染SV40 病毒的猴肾细胞培养物和SV40776 标准 株接种的vero 细胞培养物提取的总DNA 中扩增出441bp 的SV40 大T 抗原C-羧基端( T-ag-C) 基因片段,分别将其 克隆到PMD18-T 载体中,转化至JM109 感受态大肠杆菌细胞后,挑取阳性克隆进行测序鉴定,并对获得的目的基 因核苷酸序列进行序列分析及同源性分析。结果来源于猴肾细胞培养物的SV40 大T 抗原片段与本实验室来源 于云南野生猴群的猕猴外周血所得到的SV40 大T 抗原片段同源性为97. 31% ,与GenBank 中登录号为NC _ 001669. 1 序列进行比对,同源性为96. 33% ; 与SV40-776 标准株接种的vero 细胞培养物所扩增的大T 抗原片段同 源性为97. 55% 。结论对大T 抗原基因克隆和序列分析是了解和掌握SV40 病毒分子流行病学及其变异趋势的 重要手段。     

猿猴空泡病毒40病毒样颗粒的制备及纯化

本研究将猿猴空泡病毒40(Simian virus 40,SV40)的主要衣壳蛋白VP1通过Bac-toBac杆状病毒表达系统在昆虫细胞中大量表达,并自我装配成形态结构及免疫原性均与天然病毒粒子相同或相似的SV40病毒样颗粒(SV40virus-like particles,SV40VLPs),经表达条件优化及分子筛纯化,成功制备出高纯度的VLPs.聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳结果可见大小约为46kDa的VP1特异性条带.间接免疫荧光试验(IFA)证实VP1蛋白能够与异硫氰酸荧光素标记的羊抗鼠抗体发生反应,出现明显的特异性绿色荧光,具有良好的抗原性.纯化产物在透射电镜下可见直径约45nm的病毒样颗粒,显示出成功组装了SV40VLPs,免疫印迹试验证明VLPs能够与人抗SV40阳性血清发生反应,具有良好的抗原性.     

A miniature insertion element transposable in Microcystis sp. FACHB 854

A 186-bp sequence with imperfect terminal inverted repeats and target direct repeats but without any transposase-encoding capacity was found to be transposable in an isolate derived from Microcystis sp. FACHB 854. This miniature insertion element, designated as ISM854-1, and with its homologues present at least 10 copies in the genome of Microcystis FACHB 854, is inserted into the 8-bp long and AT-rich target sequences, but none or few in other Microcystis strains. A variant of ISM854-1, denoted ISM854-1A, has perfect inverted repeat sequences and may transpose in pairs in a structure like a composite transposon. This is the first report of non-autonomous transposition of a mini-IS in a cyanobacterium.     

The terminal nucleotides of retrovirus DNA are required for integration but not virus production

Deletion of specific nucleotides at either end of the long terminal repeat of the avian retrovirus, spleen necrosis virus, results in replication-competent but integration-defective virus. This result supports two conclusions: (1) the 5-base pair terminal inverted repeats and three to seven adjacent nucleotides are required for integration; (2) integration of retrovirus DNA is not required for retrovirus gene expression.     

N-Acetoxy-acetylaminofluorene reacts preferentially with a control region of intracellular SV40 chromosome

Many chemical carcinogens or their metabolites react with DNA; thus it is of interest to determine what effect chromosomal structure has on these reactions. The chromosome of simian virus 40 (SV40) is well suited for such studies; like chromatin of eukaryotic cells, it is organized into nucleosomes. The nucleotide sequence of SV40 is known, together with much about the pattern of viral gene expression and DNA replication, and the structure of the viral chromosome. We have investigated the binding of the ultimate carcinogen, N-acetoxy-acetylaminofluorene (AAAF), to specific regions of the SV40 chromosome in situ in the intact infected cell. The results, reported here, indicate that a region containing regulatory functions on the intracellular SV40 chromosome has unique structural properties which render it more susceptible to attack by AAAF than the rest of the SV40 genome. The preferential binding of AAAF to regulatory regions of chromatin may have implications for the mechanism of action of this and similar carcinogens.     

Simian virus 40 replication in adenovirus-transformed human cells antagonizes gene expression

Simian virus 40 (SV40) replicates efficiently in monkey kidney cells. However, we have now found that SV40-based vectors transfected into most human cells replicate poorly, if at all. In contrast, strong SV40 replication is observed in human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells transformed with the adenovirus early region, but not in untransformed HEK cells. Vector replication in adenovirus-transformed cells is dependent on the presence of the SV40 origin of replication and large-T antigen. However, vigorous replication occurs at levels of large-T antigen that are undetectable by immunofluorescence. These data suggest that the adenovirus oncogenes create a replication-permissive environment to which the SV40 replicon responds. Furthermore, replication and gene expression seem to be antagonistic on our vectors. High levels of large-T antigen are observed only when vector replication is blocked by mutations in the gene for large-T antigen or the origin of replication, or by direct inhibition of DNA polymerase with aphidicolin.