title: Acutely transforming retrovirus expressing Nras generated from HT-1080 fibrosarcoma cells infected with the human retrovirus XMRV.
abstract: Virus from HT-1080 fibrosarcoma cells infected with the human retrovirus XMRV (xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus) can induce rare foci of transformation in rat 208F fibroblasts. Characterization of three such foci revealed that one produced an acutely transforming virus at a high titer. The virus consists of a mutant Nras cDNA from the HT-1080 cells inserted into a retroviral vector (added to the HT-1080 cells as a marker for infection) in place of internal vector sequences. These results show that XMRV can generate acutely transforming viruses at a low rate, as is typical of other replication-competent retroviruses, and reveal the potential for transforming virus contamination of retroviral vectors made from transformed cell lines.
authors.affiliation: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington 98109-1024, USA.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Metzger
authors.forename: A Dusty
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002472:Cell Transformation, Viral; D020077:Endogenous Retroviruses / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D005814:Genes, Viral; D011905:Genes, ras; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006801:Humans; D051381:Rats