"Early" simian-virus-40-specific RNA contains information for tumor antigen formation and chromatin replication.

Simian virus 40 (SV40) induces tumor (T)-antigen formation, chromatin replication, and mitosis in primary mouse kidney cells arrested in G0 phase of the mitotic cycle. The temporal and quantitative relation between these early virus-specific reactions led to the hypothesis that the early SV40 mRNA contains information necessary for T-antigen formation and induction of cellular DNA synthesis. To get direct experimental evidence for this hypothesis, the early strand of SV40 DNA was transcribed in vitro by Escherichia coli DNA-dependent RNA polymerase and the SV40-specific cRNA was transferred by microinjection into epitheloid cells of confluent primary mouse kidney cultures. T-antigen formation and stimulation of DNA synthesis were investigated in the recipient cells. The experimental results obtained agree with the hypothesis that T-antigen is a virus-coded protein and that the early virus-specific mRNA contains information necessary for stimulation of cellular DNA replication in the arrested cells.