FBJ osteosarcoma virus in tissue culture. III. Isolation and characterization of non-virus-producing FBJ-transformed cells.

Hamster and rat cell lines have been established that have been transformed by FBJ murine sarcoma virus (FBJ-MuSV) but that do not produce virus. The hamster cell line originated from an osteosarcoma that appeared in a hamster inoculated at birth with an extract of a CFNo1 mouse FBJ-osteosarcoma. The rat cell line was obtained by transferring the FBJ-MuSV genome to normal rat kidney cells in the absence of the FBJ type C virus (FBJ-MuLV), which, usually in high concentration, accompanies the FBJ-MuSV. Both transformed hamster and rat cell lines contain the FBJ-MuSV genome, which can be rescued by ecotropic and xenotropic murine type C viruses. This rescued genome produces characteristic FBJ-MuSV foci in tissue culture and, in appropriate animal hosts, induces osteosarcomas typical of those induced by FBJ-MuSV. FBJ-MuSV was isolated originally from a parosteal osteosarcoma that occurred naturally in a mouse. Since there was no previous history of passage of the agent through any other animal species, these non-virus-producing hamster and rat cells transformed by FBJ-MuSV should be very helpful in molecular studies examining the origin of spontaneous sarcoma genomes in mice.