Tumorigenicity of hamster and mouse cells transformed by adenovirus types 2 and 5 is not influenced by the level of class I major histocompatibility antigens expressed on the cells.

Inbred hamster and mouse cells transformed by the nononcogenic adenovirus (Ad) serotypes, Ad2 and Ad5, are nontumorigenic in syngeneic adult animals, while cells from these species transformed by the highly oncogenic Ad12 are tumorigenic in such rodents. By immunoprecipitation and flow cytometry, cells from four of six Ad2- and Ad5-transformed hamster and mouse lines expressed high levels of cell-surface class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigens, while cells from two of these six lines expressed low levels of cell-surface class I MHC antigens. The levels of class I MHC proteins expressed by cells from these latter two lines were comparable to the levels of cell-surface class I MHC proteins expressed by cells from Ad12-transformed hamster and mouse lines. Moreover, an Ad2-transformed line that had become highly oncogenic after in vivo adaptation showed the same high level of MHC expression as the nononcogenic parent. The amounts of class I mRNA, analyzed by RNA blotting, were, in general, consistent with the levels of class I antigens expressed on the surfaces of these cells. These results indicate that there is no correlation between the tumorigenicity in immunocompetent syngeneic adult rodents of Ad2- and Ad5-transformed hamster and mouse cells and the level of class I MHC antigens expressed on the surfaces of these cells. Thus, the expression of different levels of class I MHC proteins does not seem to explain the differences in the oncogenicity between nononcogenic and highly oncogenic human Ad serotypes.