Carcinogen induced asynchronous replication of polyoma DNA is mediated by a trans-acting factor

We have demonstrated that carcinogen damage to DNA induces the production of cellular factors that act in trans to enhance the asynchronous replication of polyoma viral DNA. Exposure of a polyoma virus-transformed rat cell line to benzo[a]pyrene-7,8-diol-9,10-oxide (BPDE), the ultimate carcinogenic metabolite of benzo[a]pyrene, led to the accumulation of heterogeneously sized free viral DNA molecules which contain polyoma origin sequences as well as cellular sequences that flank the integrated viral DNA. When the sequence gpt was linked to the polyoma early region and transfected into rat cells, it underwent asynchronous replication in response either to direct treatment of the transfected cells with BPDE, or to fusion of untreated transfected cells with normal cells previously exposed to BPDE. Transient arrest of the cell cycle by hydroxyurea, isoleucine deprivation or methotrexate caused a slight enhancement of viral DNA replication when compared with BPDE. Both aphidicolin, an inhibitor of DNA polymerase alpha, and 3-aminobenzamide, an inhibitor of poly[ADP]ribosyl transferase, caused marked inhibition of BPDE-induced viral DNA synthesis. The induction of a trans-acting factor in response to damage of cellular DNA may be relevant to synergistic interactions between environmental chemicals and DNA viruses in cell transformation and to the general phenomenon of gene amplification.