Correlation of cell-surface phenotype with the establishment of interleukin 3-dependent cell lines from wild-mouse murine leukemia virus-induced neoplasms.

The wild mouse ecotropic virus, Cas-Br-M murine leukemia virus, induces myeloid and erythroid leukemias as well as T-cell and B-cell lymphomas in NFS mice. The ability to establish long-term cell lines from these tumors in the presence or absence of the T-cell-derived lymphokine interleukin 3 (IL-3) was examined. IL-3-dependent cell lines were readily obtained from the majority of the myeloid or erythroid leukemias and immunoblastic lymphomas. In the absence of IL-3, only one long-term factor-independent cell line was obtained from a myelogenous leukemia. The majority of the thymic T-cell lymphomas or B-lineage lymphomas could not be cultured in the presence or absence of IL-3. The results suggest that transformation of hematopoietic lineages does not necessarily obviate the requirement for normal growth factors. The acquisition of independence from growth factors may require additional transforming events.