The mechanism of viral carcinogenesis by DNA mammalian viruses: RNA transcripts containing viral and highly reiterated cellular base sequences in adenovirus-transformed cells (DNA-RNA hybridization-viral-cell mRNA).

Virus-specific RNA was isolated from cells transformed by human adenovirus 2 and 7 by multiple hybridizations with and elutions from homologous viral DNA; RNA molecules purified by this selection procedure hybridized efficiently with both viral DNA (24-50%) and DNA from untransformed cells (12-27%). Virus-specific RNA isolated in the same manner from cells productively infected with adenoviruses did not hybridize significantly with cellular DNA. These findings suggest that RNA molecules containing covalently-linked viral and cellular sequences are transcribed in cells transformed by human adenoviruses. The high efficiency of hybridization with DNA from untransformed cells implies that viral DNA is integrated adjacent to highly reiterated cellular DNA sequences.