Differential effects of transforming avian RNA tumor viruses on avian macrophages

Functionally differentiated chicken macrophages were derived by in vitro differentiation of embryonic yolk sac cells and were characterized by several macrophage-specific cell markers. Uniform, infected, virus-producing cultures were obtained after exposure of these macrophages to avian myoblastosis virus (AMV), avian myelocytomatosis virus (MC29), myeloblastosis-associated virus (MAV-2), and Prague strain of Rous sarcoma virus (PR-B RSV). Both AMV and MC29 induced morphological transformation typical of the in vivo leukemias induced by these virus strains. Analysis of the expression of macrophage-specific markers in these two transformed cell types demonstrated that different markers of the mature macrophage were suppressed by each virus, even though the parental cell immediately preceding the transformation event was a mature macrophage in both cases. Cells infected with PR-B RSV and MAV-2 showed no observable difference from uninfected macrophages in terms of morphological characteristics, growth rate, or expression of the differentiated functions of macrophages. Ths system provides demonstrations of a cell type that produces infectious, transforming RSV but fails to respond by functional alterations induced by the transforming gene, src.