Reverse transformation of vole cells transformed by avian sarcoma virus containing the src gene.

Vole cells transformed by avian sarcoma virus carrying the src gene lose their fibroblastic morphology, the organized cytoskeletal system of the normal fibroblastic cell, the typical fibronectin deposit around the cell membrane, and the ability to shut off multiplication when suspended in liquid medium. All of these transformation characteristics are reversed by treatment with cAMP derivatives. Moreover, the cAMP treatment does not cause loss of activity of the src gene product. These data imply that cAMP exerts its effect at or after the point in the metabolic pathway affected by the src gene product, pp60src. Presumably, the decision to adopt the transformed or the normal state is determined by the degree to which the src gene or cAMP-mediated kinase activities respectively predominante in the cell. The development of all four transformation characteristics as a result of introduction of the src gene, and their coordinate reversal by cAMP derivatives, supports the previous thesis that in the normal vole or CHO fibroblast all four properties are part of a common regulatory system.