Chicken myeloid stem cells infected by retroviruses carrying the v-fps oncogene do not require exogenous growth factors to differentiate in vitro.
To determine the function of c-fps in chicken macrophages and granulocytic cells we have infected chicken bone marrow cells with retroviruses containing the v-fps oncogene. Normal chicken macrophage progenitors, M-CFCs, give rise to macrophage colonies in semisolid cultures when macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF) is added into the culture medium. Upon infection with v-fps bearing retroviruses, we observed that M-CFCs were induced to develop macrophage colonies in vitro without exogenous M-CSF. This activation results from a direct effect of v-fps on the M-CFCs. No leukemic transformation was observed in the infected colonies. By comparing the effects of several retroviruses, we showed that the induction of M-CFC development is specific to v-fps containing viruses and mediated by the v-fps protein. These observations support the hypothesis that the c-fps gene is involved in the control of proliferation and/or differentiation of myeloid cells.
D000818:Animals; D001358:Avian Sarcoma Viruses / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002645:Chickens; D003115:Colony-Stimulating Factors / Q000494:pharmacology; D003673:Defective Viruses / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D005814:Genes, Viral; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000382:microbiology; D008264:Macrophages / Q000166:cytology / Q000382:microbiology; D009857:Oncogenes; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
D003115:Colony-Stimulating Factors; D014764:Viral Proteins