Association of protein phosphatase 2A with polyoma virus medium tumor antigen.

The polyoma virus medium and small tumor antigens, as well as simian virus 40 small tumor antigen, form specific complexes with two cellular proteins designated 61- and 37-kDa proteins. In this report, we demonstrate that the 61- and 37-kDa proteins correspond to the A and C subunits, respectively, of the serine- and threonine-specific protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A). On the one hand, antibodies raised against the 61-kDa protein reacted specifically with the purified A subunit of PP2A. Furthermore, the amino acid sequences of seven tryptic peptides from the A subunit were almost identical to sequences of the 61-kDa protein as deduced from the corresponding cDNA sequence. On the other hand, antibodies against the purified C subunit (catalytic subunit) of PP2A reacted specifically with the medium tumor antigen-associated 37-kDa protein. These data suggest a role of PP2A in cell transformation by polyoma virus and simian virus 40.