Chromosomally depleted interspecific hybrid cell clones selected with cytotoxic antisera: Utilization in the study of control of murine leukemia virus host‐range

AbstractA chromosomally stable mouse‐Chinese hamster hybrid cell line was subjected to five rounds of selection with cytotoxic antisera raised in rabbits against either the parental mouse 3T3 cells or the parental Chinese hamster Wg‐1 cells. Routine karyological analysis of clones isolated at each stage of serum selection revealed that treatment with either serum resulted in a limited loss of chromosomes (compared to the untreated hybrid cell cultured in parallel) and that the pattern of chromosome loss could not be correlated with the particular antiserum used for selection. However, more detailed analysis with the SSC‐formamide C‐banding technique, which identifies chromosomes containing a mouse centromere region, demonstrated that while large‐scale chromosome loss was not achieved as a result of antiserum selection, the limited loss of chromosomes did, in fact, reflect a specific depletion of chromosomes in response to treatment with cytotoxic antiserum. Specific chromosomal elimination was shown to occur as early as the first round of antiserum treatment. Antigenic analysis of the serum‐selected clones revealed a quantitative decrease in the expression of the species‐specific surface antigens selected against, but no qualitative loss of antigens was detected. The results suggest that treatment with cytotoxic antiserum may select for clones that have lost specific chromosomes bearing genes regulating the expression of species‐specific surface antigens, rather than for those demonstrating large‐scale depletion of chromosomes bearing the corresponding structural genes. Some of these chromosomally depleted hybrid cell clones have been used (along with pseudotype viruses containing the genome of vesicular stomatitis virus within the envelope of murine leukemia virus, VSV [MuLV]), to study the mechanisms regulating MuLV replication in Chinese hamster cells. The results indicate that the restriction of MuLV replication in Chinese hamster cells operates at two levels: (a) an inability to adsorb to or penetrate Chinese hamster cells; and (b) an additional intracellular block which is dominant in the mouse‐Chinese hamster hybrid cell clones examined. This latter block is presently under study.