Altered stem cell (CFU-S) function following infection of hematopoietic cells with a virus carrying V-src

Long-term murine bone marrow cultures were used to support the growth and development of hematopoietic cells. After hematopoiesis was established, the cultures were infected with a recombinant murine amphotropic virus carrying the avian sarcoma virus src gene and the CFU-S kinetics were examined. The CFU-S from the src-infected cultures displayed a reduced seeding efficiency in the standard spleen colony assay. The self-renewal capacity of these CFU-S was tested by their ability to reestablish hematopoiesis when serially transplanted on irradiated bone marrow cultures and by serial passage in spleens of irradiated mice. In both tests, cells from the src-infected cultures exhibited an enhanced ability to sustain a high level of self-renewal. The other property of stem cells which may be measured is the probability of self-renewal at each cell division which dictates the distribution between stem cells and differentiated type progeny. CFU-S from the src-infected cultures had higher average probabilities of self-renewal and therefore reduced differentiation. These differences suggest that expression of src had indirectly or directly altered the normal differentiation program of the stem cells.