Complementability of temperature-sensitive adenovirus mutants with extracts of urogenital tumour cells

Complementation of two temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants of adenovirus type 5 was attempted with tumour extract in HEp-2 cell cultures at permissive and restrictive temperature. Both ts mutants were successfully complemented with adenovirus gene products extracted from bladder and kidney carcinoma cells. The percentage incidence of complementation appeared to be higher with extracts obtained from female patients than with those obtained from males. The same gene sequences may occur in penile carcinoma cells and in bladder carcinoma cells showing the early signs of malignization. Extracts of seminoma cells and of cells from prostatic hypertrophies contained adenovirus genes less frequently; infectious virus was never obtained from them. The same applies to cells from the non-tumourous ("control") patients tested. The old age of the patients and some properties of the tumours examined suggest that hormonal changes may contribute to adenovirus gene expression and, indirectly, to the malignant process and its continuity.