Chen I S, Slamon D J, Rosenblatt J D, Shah N P, Quan S G, Wachsman W
Science. 1985 Jul 5;229(4708):54-8. doi: 10.1126/science.2990037.
The human T-cell leukemia viruses (HTLV) are associated with T-cell malignancies in man and will transform normal human T cells in vitro. The mechanism of malignant transformation by HTLV is unknown but appears to be distinct from that of other classes of retroviruses, which induce malignant transformation through viral or cellular oncogenes. Recently a new gene, termed x, was identified in HTLV. This gene has been hypothesized to be the transforming gene of HTLV because of its conservation within the HTLV class of retroviruses. By in vitro mutagenesis of the HTLV-II x gene, it is now demonstrated that the presence of a functional x gene product is necessary for efficient HTLV transcription. Therefore, these studies provide direct evidence for an important function of the x gene in HTLV replication. The functional analogies between the x gene and transcriptional regulatory genes of some DNA viruses suggest that these viruses share similar mechanisms for cellular transformation.
人类T细胞白血病病毒（HTLV）与人的T细胞恶性肿瘤相关，且能在体外使正常人T细胞发生转化。HTLV导致恶性转化的机制尚不清楚，但似乎与其他类逆转录病毒不同，后者通过病毒或细胞癌基因诱导恶性转化。最近在HTLV中鉴定出一个名为x的新基因。由于该基因在HTLV类逆转录病毒中具有保守性，因此推测它是HTLV的转化基因。通过对HTLV-II x基因进行体外诱变，现已证明功能性x基因产物的存在对于HTLV的有效转录是必需的。因此，这些研究为x基因在HTLV复制中的重要功能提供了直接证据。x基因与某些DNA病毒的转录调节基因之间的功能相似性表明，这些病毒在细胞转化方面具有相似的机制。
