Viral neoplastic transformation of hamster pineal cells in vitro: retention of enzymatic function.

Cultures of hamster pineal tissue infected with certain oncogenic DNA viruses undergo neoplastic transformation and produce tumors when injected into homologous hosts. Hydroxyindole-O-methyl transferase, an enzyme found exclusively in the pineal gland, is present in low concentrations in transformed pineal cells in vitro and in larger amounts in tumors produced by the injected cells. This enzyme is not present in several nonpineal tissues similarly transformed.