[Pathological and molecular analyses of mammary tumors induced in HTLV-I pX transgenic rats]

The pX gene of human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) is known to be a potent transactivator of the viral gene and the host genes which are important for cell proliferation in vitro. It has been reported that various diseases occur in transgenic mice harboring either tax, pX, or env-pX gene, such as mesenchymal tumor, neurofibroma, thymic atrophy, muscle degeneration, exocrinopathy and arthropathy. We previously demonstrated that rat but not mouse CD4 positive T cells could be easily infected and immortalized by HTLV-I and infectious transmission of HTLV-I induced HAM/TSP-like myelopathy in WKAH rats after long incubation periods of 16 months. These observations prompted us to produce a series of transgenic rats that expressed the pX gene products under the control of mouse H-2Kd promotor in order to evaluate further the biological and pathological function of the pX gene in vivo. In various tissues of pX transgenic rats (pX rats), pX mRNA was constitutively expressed irrespective of age. PX rats developed mammary tumors with massive infiltration by neutrophils as early as 9 months of age. Pathological and immunohistochemical examination revealed that the tumors were undifferentiated carcinomas of the mammary gland origin. They were transplantable into pX rats, but not into normal syngenic rats. High levels of mRNA expression of not only the pX transgene but also the host genes such as Gro (melanoma growth-stimulatory activity/KC), MIP-2 (macrophage inflammatory protein-2) and IL-1 alpha were demonstrated in the tumor tissues. Gro and MIP-2 which were known as IL-8 families were likely to be produced by tumor cells and appeared to be responsible for neutrophil infiltration in the tumor tissues. Lastly, pX rats described here appear to be suitable animal models for elucidating mechanisms involved in the tumorigenesis and the transactivation of the cellular genes by HTLV-I, especially by the pX gene products in vivo.