Ecotropic C-type retrovirus of B16 melanoma and malignant transformation of normal melanocytes.

We reported previously that B16,JB/RH and JB/MS melanomas of C57BL/6 mice express the common melanoma-associated antigen (MAA) recognized by MM2-9B6 monoclonal antibody (MAb). This MAA is encoded by the env gene of an ecotropic MuLV-type retrovirus that somatically emerged in melanomas of C57BL/6 mice. The potential role of this melanoma-associated retrovirus (MelARV) in melanoma formation remains unknown and has not been previously investigated. To test this, normal melanocyte lines (melan-a and C57M) of C57BL/6 mice were infected with the MelARV produced by B16BL6 melanoma. Infection of these melanocytes with the MelARV was associated with the appearance of the MAA recognized by MM2-9B6 MAb. Most of the infected melanocyte sublines were able to grow only in the presence of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). Two infected melanocyte sublines showed morphological changes, were able to grow in the absence of TPA and, after inoculation into C57BL/6 mice, produced rapidly growing, highly pigmented tumors. These new melanomas, derived from the MelARV-infected melan-a and C57M melanocytes, were termed Meli-A1 and Meli-BL, respectively. Southern blot analysis of EcoRI- and HindIII-digested DNAs from these melanomas showed several retroviral insertion sites. One copy of MeIARV was found to be inserted at the end of the 6th leucine domain of the c-maf proto-oncogene, which encodes a basic region/leucine zipper transcription factor related to the AP-1 family that is able to form homodimers or heterodimers with Fos and Jun transcription factors. Our data indicate that c-maf is a common insertion site of MelARV in BL6, Meli-A1 and Meli-BL melanomas, whereas no such insertion site was found in the melanocytes infected with MelARV but not malignantly transformed. Thus, our data imply that the ecotropic MelARV that somatically emerged in B16 and other melanomas of C57BL/6 mice may play a role in malignant transformation.