Tumorigenicity and H-2 expression of papillomavirus-transformed mouse cell lines.

Tumorigenicity in immunocompetent syngeneic mice and H-2 class I antigen expression of BPV1-transformed mouse cell lines had no correlation. H-2 expression was examined using monoclonal anti-(H-2Kb) and anti-(H-2Db) antibodies in immunofluorescence staining for flow cytometry analysis and by determining the sensitivity of the cells to cytolysis by allostimulated spleen cells. Nontumorigenic cell lines were as resistant as tumorigenic cell lines to natural killer activity. The results indicate that in our model defence by natural killer cells is not a decisive factor. The results also show that instead of or in addition to H-2 class I antigens other factors (e.g. the presence or absence of virus-specific antigens) are important in determining the tumorigenicity of BPV1-transformed cell lines.