Expression of viral RNA in Friend virus-induced erythroleukemia cells.

The regulation of expression of the Friend virus complex (FV) was studied in clones of H-2 congenic erythroleukemia cell lines. Molecular probes specific for each of the two FV components were generated and hybridized to RNA extracted from clones differing with respect to virus production or viral envelope antigen expression. Sequences representing the defective component of FV continued to be transcribed in cells regardless of virus production. The presence of helper virus-specific sequences, however, was shown to be directly related to virus expression. Molecular hybridization with cytoplasmic and nuclear RNA extracted from the H-2 congenic clones representing various stages of viral expression demonstrated a direct correlation between the level of transcription of FMuLV-specific sequences and the degree of virus expression. These data suggest that regulation of FV expression is primarily related to the cessation of helper virus transcription in the cell lines studied. In this paper we provide further evidence that the defective viral components is responsible for the rapid malignancy associated with Friend disease.