Search for type-C oncornavirus-related genetic information in tissues from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Single-stranded 3H-DNA probes complementary to the RNA of Rauscher murine leukemia virus and of simian sarcoma virus were prepared using techniques that permitted complete transcription of the viral genome of each virus. These probes were used in DNA-DNA hybridization studies with the cellular DNA from uncultured specimens of spleens and placentas of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). No proviral DNA sequences related to these viruses were detected in these tissues. The results presented here do not support previously reported antigenic data implicating type-C oncornavirus infection of these organs in SLE.