Phospholipids and gangliosides in the Rous sarcoma.

Ten days after inoculation of sarcomatous homogenate in the leg muscle of chickens, the appearance of sarcomatous tumours was observed by electron microscopy. Viral replication and cell transformation strongly altered phospholipids and glycolipids content of the tissue: 6.12 +/- 0.23 micromoles phospholipid phosphorus/g tissue in normal tissue and 3.5 +/- 0.19 micromoles phosphorus/g tissue in sarcomatous tissue. The concentration of lipid-bound sialic acids in normal tissues was 10.5 +/- 0 nmoles/g tissue and 24.27 +/- 0.8 nmoles/g tissue in sarcomatous tissue.