BALB/c and CBA mice differ in the subtype of T cell involved in Moloney murine leukemia virus-induced lymphomas

Subsets of T cells can be recognized by presence or absence of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) or 20 alpha-hydroxysteriod dehydrogenase (20 alpha SDH) activity. By use of these enzyme markers Moloney murine leukemia virus (M-MuLV)-induced lymphomas were shown to involve different T-cell subtypes. In the present paper we show that the genotype of the mouse has a strong influence on the subtype of T cell involved in lymphoma. BALB/c mice preferentially develop 20 alpha SDH-positive lymphomas, whereas CBA lymphomas often have the TdT phenotype. Comparison of the 20 alpha SDH activity of normal bone marrow cells showed that BALB/c mice have higher enzyme levels than CBA mice. The relative availability of a certain type of cell at a critical early step in leukemogenesis may thus influence lymphoma type.