Pathogenesis of Marek's disease: early appearance of Marek's disease tumor-associated surface antigen in infected chickens.

Marek's disease tumor-associated surface antigen (MATSA) appeared in different lymphoid tissues of P-line chickens soon after they were infected with BC-1 strain of Marek's disease virus. MATSA-bearing cells first appeared in spleens by 5 days post infection (PI) and were observed through a 21-day experimental period at mean levels varying from 3.8 to 21.9% of the total cells examined. Lower percentages of MATSA-bearing cells were observed in the thymus, in the bursa of Fabricius, among peripheral blood lymphocytes, and among bone marrow cells beginning 7 days PI. The antigen was not detected on normal lymphocytes from chickens or chicken embryos, nor was it detected on cultured chicken embryo fibroblasts infected or transformed by avian RNA tumor viruses.