Incomplete transformation of rat cells by a deletion mutant of adenovirus type 5.

Rat 3Y1 cells were infected with adenovirus type 5 (Ad5) wild type, dl312 (deletion of 902 base pairs between 1.5-4.5 map units), and dl313 (deletion of 2,350 base pairs between 3.5-10.5 map units). After cultivation for 4 weeks, transformed foci appeared in wild type- and dl313-infected cells. No focus was observed in dl312- and mock-infected cells. Foci induced by dl313 were less dense than those induced by wild type. Cell lines (313Y cells) established from dl313-induced foci contained the E1 gene of the dl313 genome (E1a only). Cell lines (5WY cells) established from Ad5 wild type-induced foci contained the E1 gene of wild type (E1a and b). The difference between the transcriptional patterns of the E1 gene in 313Y cells and that in 5WY cells was the same as the difference in dl313- and wild type-infected cells. Colonies were formed in soft agar culture inoculated with 5WY cells, but no colony was formed after inoculation of 313Y cells. The transformed phenotype of 313Y cells was incomplete compared with that in 5WY cells. In nongrowing 3Y1 cells, dl313 and Ad5 wild type induced cellular DNA synthesis but dl312 did not. The above results suggest that the E1a gene is functioning in dl313-infected but not in dl312-infected cells and that such functions as induction of cellular DNA synthesis and transformation of cells are dependent on expression of the Ad5 E1a gene.