Chemical-retroviral cooperative carcinogenesis and its molecular basis in NIH/3T3 cells

We demonstrate in this study that infection with Moloney murine leukemia virus (M-MLV) and exposure to 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC) can cooperate to transform NIH/3T3 mouse fibroblasts. M-MLV seems to stimulate the expression of c-myc and of a certain major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I gene. Yet M-MLV infection by itself is insufficient to transform these cells. However, exposure of the infected cells to 3-MC resulted in a rapid cell transformation with concomitant enhancement of c-Ha-ras and H-2K class I MHC gene expression in the transformed cells. No such transformation was observed when uninfected NIH/3T3 cells were similarly treated with this carcinogen. Clones of cells transformed by this combined effect of M-MLV and 3-MC were found to be highly tumorigenic in fully immunocompetent allogeneic BALB/c mice. We provide evidence to suggest that the enhanced expression of the H-2K gene in these transformed cells plays an important role in overcoming the BALB/c allogeneic barrier and allowing tumor growth in these mice.