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The inbred mouse strain CWD/LeAgl, which has a high incidence of spontaneous B-cell lymphomas, expresses both ecotropic MuLV and MCF viruses. Studies indicated that the MCF viruses expressed in CWD tumors were characteristic of nononcogenic MCF viruses and that ecotropic MuLV may be the etiological agent in spontaneous B-cell lymphomagenesis. Somatically acquired proviruses of approximately the same size were detected in several tumor DNAs suggesting that integration of proviral sequences into specific regions of the mouse genome may be an important step in lymphomagenesis of this strain.

An immunobinding assay is described that tests antigens attached to nitrocellulose paper against antisera contained in microtiter plates. In comparison to a conventional microtiter plate radioimmunoassay, the nitrocellulose paper radioimmunoassay is clearly superior in both antigen attachment and antibody binding. Studies using bovine serum albumin and human IgG demonstrated superior antigen attachment extending from 5-fold in a physiological solution, to 50-fold in 50% fetal calf serum, to over 1000-fold in detergent solutions. With titrations using a rabbit anti-human IgG serum, the antibody binding in the nitrocellulose paper radioimmunoassay averaged over 5 times the binding in the microtiter plate radioimmunoassay. The nitrocellulose paper radioimmunoassay was also modified to quantitate human IgG. With this assay, 15 pg of human IgG inhibited the antibody binding by 50%. The nitrocellulose paper radioimmunoassay is easy to perform, and, since it combines the antigen-binding properties of the nitrocellulose paper with the convenience of assaying samples in microtiter plates, this assay should prove useful for investigating the many antigens that attach to nitrocellulose paper.