Translational control of SV40 T antigen expressed from the adenovirus late promoter

We have constructed four novel adenovirus-SV40 hybrid viruses that contain the SV40 A gene at different positions downstream from the adenoviral major late promoter, within the region that encodes the second and third segments of the late tripartite RNA leader. The SV40 insert was precisely positioned in preselected regions of the adenoviral genome by using a combination of in vitro and in vivo recombination. As expected, all four recombinants produce equally high levels of SV40-encoded RNA that initiates at the adenovirus late promoter and contains two or three leader segments at the 5' end. Yet, in spite of this efficient transcription, only one virus, Ad-SVR284, directs the synthesis of high levels of SV40 large T antigen in infected cells; the other recombinants all produce approximately 20-fold less T antigen. This differential expression is, however, not seen in vitro, where equal amounts of hybrid T mRNA direct the synthesis of equal amounts of SV40 T antigen. Thus, some form of translational regulation is present in adenovirus-infected cells that is missing from the in vitro translation reaction.