Partial transformation of human tumor cell lines showing defective interaction between unusual p53 gene product and SV40 large-T antigen.

Stable SV40 transformation of the human osteosarcoma cell line HOS yielded SV-HOS cells with high levels of large-T and quasi-original levels of p53. The latter kept its former intermediate metabolic stability, was found to be uncomplexed with SV40 large-T, however coimmunopurified with a 70 kDa protein. Upon comparison with HOS, SV40-HOS cells showed decreased serum-dependence and increased colony-forming efficiency in soft agar. SV-HOS cells were non-invasive in an in vitro assay in contrast with SV40-transformed human cells exhibiting a classical large-T-p53 complex. Both SV40-transformed human cell types were poorly tumorigenic in athymic mice in contrast with transformed HOS cells, expressing activated v-ras or met oncogenes. The p53 molecules from HOS cells and any of the HOS derivatives were underphosphorylated and showed unusual methionine- and phosphate-containing peptide fingerprints when compared with 'normal' human p53, which can associate with SV40 large-T. The structural and biological features of the HOS p53 molecules are discussed in relationship to analogous human and murine molecules in experimental and natural systems.