Expression of the control elements of BK and SV40 viruses in human cells exhibiting different transformed phenotypes

Transformation of primary human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells as selected by either focus assay or growth in soft agar after their transfection with BK virus (BKV) DNA alone or BKV DNA plus the activated form of human Ha-ras oncogene has been previously reported (A. Pater and M. M. Pater, J. Virol. 58, 680-683 (1986]. In order to examine the expression of the regulatory elements of papovaviruses in each of the transformed phenotypes, chloramphenical acetyltransferase (CAT) plasmids under the control of BK or SV40 early promotor were used in transient assays. The expression of CAT, as driven by either SV40 or BK early promoters, was approximately 100-fold higher in HEK cells transformed by BKV DNA plus Ha-ras oncogene than in cells transformed only by BKV DNA. The higher CAT expression was not due to high levels of plasmid replication in these cells. Time course studies revealed that the higher CAT activity could be explained largely by greater plasmid uptake and stability in BK plus ras-transformed cells.