Herpes-related polypeptides from a human cervical carcinoma cell line

Using antiserum against herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infected cells, eight polypeptides with similar molecular weights could be immunoprecipitated from the nearly diploid, human cervical carcinoma cell line C4II and from HSV-2 transformed hamster and mouse cells. Only two of these polypeptides corresponded to those from HSV-2 infected cells, including the putative HSV-2 transformation-related 35K protein. Partial proteolytic cleavage products of the immunoprecipitated 35K polypeptides from C4II and HSV transformed hamster and infected cells were indistinguishable; however, viral DNA and mRNA corresponding to the 35K polypeptide could not be detected in C4II or in transformed hamster or mouse cells by dot blot hybridization. A similar mechanism of transformation for the human cervical carcinoma cell line and HSV-2 transformed cells is proposed.