Fv-1 regulation of lymphoma development and of thymic ecotropic and xenotropic MuLV expression in mice of the AKR/J x RF/J cross.

The incidence of spontaneous thymic lymphoma has been studied in crosses between AKR/J and RF/J mice. AKR mice develop a high incidence of this disease. RF mice transmit a marked resistance to development of the disease to F1 hybrid mice of the AKR x RF cross. This resistance is associated with a reduction of endogenous ecotropic and xenotropic MuLV expression in the prelymphomatous thymus. The RF gene governing the coordinate suppression of these three phenotypes has been mapped to the Fv-1 locus. These results indicate that the particular Fv-1 allele of AKR mice provides a permissive genetic background for endogenous ecotropic and xenotropic MuLV expression and that these viral activities may be etiologically involved in the development of spontaneous thymic lymphoma in the mouse.