SEQUENCE-ANALYSIS OF A NOVEL CDNA WHICH IS OVEREXPRESSED IN TESTICULAR-TUMORS FROM POLYOMAVIRUS LARGE T-ANTIGEN TRANSGENIC MICE

MT-PVLT-10 transgenic mice express the targe T-antigen of polyomavirus under the control of the mouse metallothionein-1 promoter. The males of this transgenic line developed testicular tumor and seminal vesicle engorgement at advanced ages. A novel partial cDNA was identified whi ch hybridized to a 2.6 kilobase mRNA. The expression of this mRNA incr eased approximately two- to fifteen-fold in immortalized cell lines de rived from testicular tumors as compared to similar cell lines derived from pre-adenomatous testes. The in vivo pattern of expression for th is cDNA as well as its expression in various primary cultures and esta blished cell lines derived from testis of MT-PVLT-10 mice is presented . Overlapping cDNA clones-from liver, testes, and brain cDNA libraries containing the entire coding region for this novel cDNA have been iso lated and sequenced. The coding region of this gene comprises 1179 nuc leotides and predicts a polypeptide of 393 amino acids (calculated mol ecular mass 44,318). Motif analysis of the amino acid sequence has rev ealed that it contains several hydrophobic cr-helices characteristic o f transmembrane proteins.