Elevated expression of T-antigen in simian papovavirus 40-infected skin fibroblasts from individuals with cytogenetic defects.

A number of cytogenetic conditions were examined for expression of simian papovavirus 40 T-antigen in vitro. Skin fibroblasts from patients with Turner's syndrome and trisomy 18 syndrome and most cell lines from Klinefelter's syndrome, trisomy 13 syndrome, chromosomal translocations, chromosome 21 deletions, and single cases of 18q- and 4p- exhibited elevated T-antigen expression, compared to a clinically and cytogenetically normal control population. Thus, T-antigen expression was generally elevated in cells with increased, decreased, or rearranged genetic material involving many different chromosomes. Variation in T-antigen expression among cell lines may reflect two factors. Individual cell line factors may account for differences within homogeneous clinical groups, whereas population factors appear to account for differences between the various clinical groups and the control population. The observation of elevated T-antigen expression in diverse cytogenetic conditions suggests that this phenomenon may be a manifestation of chromosomal aberration unrelated to cancer susceptibility.