Expression of v-src induces a myeloproliferative disease in bone-marrow-reconstituted mice.

A recombinant retrovirus, N-TK-src, was used to introduce the v-src oncogene into mouse hematopoietic cells. This vector efficiently expresses both the neo and v-src genes in different hematopoietic lineages in culture as well as in mice reconstituted with infected bone marrow cells. Expression of v-src had no dramatic effect on the proliferative and differentiative capacity of hematopoietic precursors when assayed in methyl cellulose cultures. However, in mice reconstituted with N-TK-src-infected bone marrow cells, expression of v-src leads to the rapid development of a severe myeloproliferative disease, characterized by splenomegaly, anemia, and a shift of hematopoiesis from the bone marrow to the spleen.