An adenovirus 2-coded tumor antigen located on the endoplasmic reticulum and nuclear envelope is required for growth of transformed cells in Ca2+-deficient media.

Rat embryo cell lines containing the adenovirus 2 E1a region together with normal or mutant forms of the N-terminal half of the E1b region (HindIII G fragment) were generated by using a dominant selection marker, neo. Biochemically transformed cells containing a nonmutated HindIII G fragment proliferated more rapidly in Ca2+-deficient media, whereas cells containing a specific deletion within the E1b-encoded, 175-amino-acid (175R) (19-kilodalton) T-antigen gene and nontransformed cells grew at a slower rate. Furthermore, transformed cells that did not express the 175R T antigen and untransformed cells could not replicate their DNA efficiently in low-Ca2+ medium. Our results suggest that Ca2+ ions may provide an important stimulus for cell proliferation in adenovirus-transformed cells through a mechanism that involves the functions of the 175R T antigen.