Cm. Das et al., THE EFFECT ON CELL PHENOTYPE OF THE MUTAGENIC PEPTIDE OF HERPES-SIMPLEX VIRUS TYPE-1, European journal of cancer. Part B, Oral oncology, 31B(4), 1995, pp. 267-274
The transforming region of the genome of herpes simplex virus type-1 (
HSV-1) encodes a peptide that raises the mutation frequency of cells.
To find the effect of this peptide on cell phenotype, three types of c
ells were transfected with a shuttle vector plasmid that expressed the
peptide. When immortalised rat fibroblasts were transfected they rapi
dly became anchorage-independent with high efficiency, but were not tu
morigenic in nude mice. When monkey kidney cells were transfected, fiv
e clonal cell lines were isolated, of which one became anchorage-indep
endent but was not tumorigenic in nude mice. When human oral keratinoc
ytes were transfected they did not become immortalised. The peptide th
erefore induced some of the features of transformation in different ce
ll types, but did not induce a malignant phenotype in any cell. This s
uggests that interaction with co-factors would be necessary for the pe
ptide to contribute to the development of oral cancer.