Sensitization of transformed rat cells to parvovirus MVMp is restricted to specific oncogenes

The rat cell line FR3T3 was transformed with the retroviral oncogenes v-myc or v-src, with the DNA tumor viruses SV40 or bovine papilloma virus strain 1 (BPV-1) or with the 69% transforming region of BPV-1. The transformants were compared with the uncloned parental line for their susceptibility to the lytic effect and to the replication of MVMp, an autonomous parvovirus. Expression of v-myc and v-src proteins and of SV40 large T antigen correlated with a greater cell susceptibility to MVMp-induced killing. Thus, the expression of both cytoplasmic and nuclear oncogene products may sensitize rat fibroblasts to MVMp. In contrast, cell lines transformed by BPV-1, including highly tumorigenic and tumor-derived clones, were on the average as resistant as the parental cell line to MVMp infection. A similar resistance to MVMp-induced killing was displayed by BPV-1-transformed NIH3T3 cells. However, supertransformation of one of the BPV-1-transformants by the human EJ-Harvey ras-1 oncogene, known to sensitize FR3T3 and NIH3T3 cells, correlated with an increase in susceptibility to MVMp. Therefore, the failure of BPV-1 transformation to sensitize murine cells to parvoviral attack may be ascribed to the tumor virus rather than to the cells undergoing transformation. Hence, cell sensitization to MVMp appears to be oncogene-specific and cannot be taken as an absolute correlative with neoplastic transformation.