Tumor antigen induction by the envelope-defective Bryan strain of Rous sarcoma viruses

Chicken, quail, and turkey cells were infected and/or transformed by various avian leukosis or sarcoma oncovirus (ALSV) strains as well as by the envelope-defective Bryan high-titer strain of Rous sarcoma virus [BH-RSV(-)]. All fibroblast-transforming avian sarcoma viruses (ASV), including BH-RSV(-), were able to induce the expression of the previously described avian tumor-specific cell-surface antigen(s) (TSSA). Thus TSSA was group-specific for all tested transforming ASV. Since BH-RSV(-) is a stable deletion mutant lacking the capacity to code for the 85 000d major virus envelope glycoprotein (gp85), it seemed unlikely that the group-specific antigen determinants of gp85 that were recently detected on ALSV-infected cells could account for TSSA expression.