TRANSFORMATION OF CHICKEN-CELLS BY THE GENE ENCODING THE CATALYTIC SUBUNIT OF PI 3-KINASE

The avian sarcoma virus 16 (ASV 16) is a retrovirus that induces heman giosarcomas in chickens. Analysis of the ASV 16 genome revealed that i t encodes an oncogene that is derived from the cellular gene for the c atalytic subunit of phosphoinositide 3-kinase(PI 3-kinase). The gene i s referred to as v-p3k, and like its cellular counterpart c-p3k, it is a potent transforming gene in cultured chicken embryo fibroblasts (CE Fs). The products of the viral and cellular p3k genes have PI 3-kinase activity. CEFs transformed with either gene showed elevated levels of phosphatidylinositol 3,4-bisphosphate and phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5- trisphosphate and activation of Akt kinase.