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Previous studies indicate that herpes simplex virus (HSV) enhances the carcinogenic activity of smokeless tobacco and tobacco-related chemical carcinogens in animals. Since tobacco-specific N'-nitrosamines (TSNAs) such as N'-nitrosonornicotine (NNN) and 4-(N-methyl-N'-nitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) are major chemical carcinogens of smokeless tobacco and are known to be responsible for the development of oral cancers in smokeless tobacco users, the combined effects of TSNAs and HSV in cell transformation were investigated. Exposure of cells to NNN or NNK followed by virus infection resulted in a significant enhancement of transformation frequency when compared with that observed with chemical carcinogens or virus alone. This study suggests that TSNAs and HSV can interact together and show synergism in cell transformation.

The interaction of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2) with Swiss/3T3 cells was investigated. Virus-induced cytopathic effects developed in the absence of production of infectious virus. HSV-2 inactivated with UV light (2, 4, 6, and 8 min) also induced cell death in the absence of virus replication. Cell death was not detectable after infection by HSV-2 that had been inactivated by UV irradiation for 10, 12, and 14 min. 3T3 cells infected with UV-inactivated virus (10 and 12 min) continued to replicate past the contact-inhibited monolayer normally associated with these cells. Infection of 3T3 cells with UV-irradiated USV-2 also induced the development of transformed foci. Transformed cells with an epithelioid of fibroblastoid morphology were identified and isolated. All HSV-2-transformed cell lines contained HSV-2-specific antigens detectable by immunofluorescence techniques. The maximum frequency of HSV-2-induced transformation was 3 times 105 PFU per transformed focus, and the observed transformation could be inhibited by pretreatment of the virus with specific antiserum. No type C particles were detected within five cell culture passages after transformation by HSV-2. Type C virus particles were detected after 10 cell culture passages of the HSV-2-transformed cell lines.

Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) DNA has been detected by molecular hybridization in hamster fibroblast cells oncogenically transformed by ultraviolet-irradiated virus. At early passages after cloning in soft agar, about 40% of the HSV-2 genome was present in all the transformed cell lines at one to six copies per cell. In cell lines derived from tumors induced by these cells, the same percentage of the HSV-2 genome was also found with more uniform number of copies (between two and three). Thus the presence of viral DNA seems to be necessary for the maintenance of the transformed state in these cell lines.

Transformation potential of herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2) was quantitatively compared in a system selecting for biochemical transformants. The highest frequency of transformation was obtained with HSV-2 strain 333. The transformation rates for two strains of HSV-1 were lower and distinctly different from HSV-2 and from each other. The dose of inactivating ultraviolet light received by the virus and the multiplicity of infection proved to be critical components of the procedure. Clones of these biochemically transformed cells expressed HSV-specific antigens, altered cell morphology, and increased levels of thymidine kinase activity. Isolates of HSV-1 recovered from the same site 11 years apart yielded similar transforming frequencies. These results suggest that this assay should prove useful in further characterizing the biological properties of HSV.

The characteristics of the cytoskeleton of a Fischer rat embryo fibroblast cell line (3Y1) transformed by ultraviolet (UV)-irradiated HSV were studied by indirect immunofluorescence using anti-actin IgG. Parental 3Y1 cells possessed well-developed actin filaments, while 3Y1 cells transformed by UV-irradiated HSV also retained well-developed actin filaments. Transformed cells were divided into 2 groups according to tumorigenicity in newborn Fischer rats; one had a strongly tumorigenic potential and the other a weakly tumorigenic potential. Tumor-derived cell lines exhibited a highly tumorigenic potential, and were also divided into 2 groups, one with well-developed actin filaments and the other without well-developed actin filaments. Our results suggested that transformation or tumor formation by HSV is a multi-step process and that morphological loss of actin filaments in the cells is not essential to the tumorigenic potential of the cells transformed by HSV.

The oncogenic properties of hamster embryo cells transformed by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2) and SV40 virus following photodynamic inactivation using neutral red were determined by subcutaneous inoculation into newborn Syrian hamsters. Cells transformed by all three viruses produced palpable tumors after different latent periods. Histopathological examination showed that HSV-2 tumors were fibrosarcomas and metastases were often seen in the lungs. HSV-2 primary tumors were reinoculated subcutaneously into weanling hamsters; they developed palpable tumors within 2 weeks. HSV-specific antigens were detected in the cytoplasm and/or on the surface of both the HSV-1 and HSV-2 tumor-cell cultures by the indirect immunofluorescence technique. The same method revealed SV40 tumor antigen in the nuclei of the SV40 tumor cells. Sera from HSV or SV40 tumor-bearing hamsters gave positive reactions when tested against HSV-infected hamster cells or SV40-infected monkey cells, respectively. These results demonstrate that herpes simplex virus and SV40, whose infectivity was lost following photodynamic inactivation, retained the virus genetic information necessary for transformation of normal cells to an oncogenic phenotype.

Transformation of mouse cells (Ltk(-)) and human cells (HeLa Bu) from a thymidine kinase (TK)-minus to a TK(+) phenotype (herpes simplex virus [HSV]-transformed cells) has been induced by infection with ultraviolet-irradiated HSV type 2 (HSV-2), as well as by HSV type 1 (HSV-1). Medium containing methotrexate, thymidine, adenine, guanosine, and glycine was used to select for cells able to utilize exogenous thymidine. We have determined the kinetics of thermal inactivation of TK from cells lytically infected with HSV-1 or HSV-2 and from HSV-1- and HSV-2-transformed cells. Three hours of incubation at 41 C produces a 20-fold decrease in the TK activity of cell extracts from HSV-2-transformed cells and Ltk(-) cells lytically infected with HSV-2. The same conditions produce only a twofold decrease in the TK activities from HSV-1-transformed cells and cells lytically infected with HSV-1. This finding supports the hypothesis that an HSV structural gene coding for TK has been incorporated in the HSV-transformed cells.

A BALB/c continuous cell line, 238, was transformed following infection with UV-inactivated herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) was designated H238. Several cell lines were derived from single cells of H238 by cloning in soft agar. The clonal lines express cytoplasmic antigens by immunofluorescence when reacted with rabbit HSV-2 antiserum and mouse tumor-bearer serum. The cloned cell lines induce tumors in immunocompetent mice by the subcutaneous route with a 100% incidence at an inoculum of 10(6) cells. These properties are consistent with those of the H238 parent cell line. In contrast to the parent line, however, the cloned cell lines do not elicit HSV neutralizing antibody in the tumor-bearing host.

After nitrous acid mutagenesis of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), a mutant, 1093, was isolated which, during productive infection, induced very low levels of thymidine kinase (tk). The mutant virus was found, after UV irradiation, to be unable to transform L cells lacking tk (Ltk-) to a tk+ phenotype as chararcterized by growth of the cells in a modified HAT-selective medium containing 1.6 X 10(-5) M thymidine. Cells transformed by wild-type virus grew vigorously under the same conditions. The mutant was able to transform Ltk- cells if the medium contained 10(-3) M thymidine. These transformed cells maintained their conditional character and would not grow in low concentrations of thymidine in selective medium. Therefore, this mutant is conditional on the thymidine concentration in the selection medium in its ability to transform Ltk- cells to a tk+ phenotype. The conditionally transformed cells could be supertransformed with wild-type UV-irradiated HSV-1 to a phenotype which would grow in low-thymidine selective medium. The frequency of supertransformation closely approximated the frequency of transformation of Ltk- cells by wild-type virus. Supertransformation at high frequency could not be effected by mutant 1093 or the tk- mutant B2006. These results indicate that the presence of HSV-1 genetic information in HSV-1-transformed cells does not preclude the acquisition by these cells of at least one additional HSV-1 gene, that for tk.

A transformed mouse cell line (H238) was obtained following the infection of 238 mouse cells with ultraviolet (UV) irradiation-inactivated herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2). The transformed cells produced tumors with a 100% incidence within 8 weeks in 6-week-old syngeneic BALB/c mice at an inoculum of 1 times 10(6). Indirect immunofluorescence (IF) tests revealed the presence of HSV antigens in the transformed cells. Antibodies to HSV-2 were found in the sera of tumor-bearing animals by neutralization and IF techniques. Neither HSV-2 infectious virus nor viral antigens could be detected by the transfer of transformed-cell DNA into permissive cells.

Six Syrian hamster embryo cell lines (14-012-8-1, KOS-6-1, 333-8-9, 333-2-29, MS-4-1, FR-6-1), developed after exposure of primary cultures to different strains of UV-irradiated herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 or 2, were analyzed for chromosome aberrations. All the cell lines showed chromosome stability (number of chromosomes were maintained within a narrow range of variation in the diploid region) and a low incidence of polyploids, endoreduplications, and metaphases with pulveration or extensively fragmented chromosomes. The cell lines, passaged over long periods of time in vitro, developed marker chromosomes that suggested a clonal-type evolution of the cell populations. Two cell lines, 333-8-9 and 14-012-8-1, showed two different marker chromosomes with large heterochromatic regions. Chromosomes with abnormal heterochromatic regions, which often appeared like prominent secondary constrictions, were found in all the cell lines we examined. The level of chromosome breakage was low in all the cell lines except the highly tumorigenic cell line 333-2-29, which had a high incidence of cells with single or double chromatinic bodies. The abnormal heterochromatic regions that occurred on marker chromosomes and prominent secondary constrictions were interpreted as a possible chromosomal effect of the HSV. The karyotypic stability and low incidence of open breaks might have been the result of UV irradiation of the HSV.

The phenomenon of cell transformation by type 2 herpes simplex virus has been investigated. Primary hamster embryo fibroblasts were exposed to type 2 herpes virus under conditions which would restrict or inhibit the lytic events of virus-cell interaction. Cell lines were established by single-cell cloning. There was evidence of altered cell morphology with altered biological activity in terms of longevity and oncogenicity; there was, however, no evidence of virus specific antigen or incorporation of viral nucleic acid into the host cell genome. Virus specific antigen was only detected in the early passages of an uncloned transformed cell line. We are thus unable to confirm previous studies (vide supra) and are obliged to propose a "hit and run" model for in vitro cell transformation by type 2 herpes simplex virus.

Two cell lines biochemically transformed by UV-irradiated herpes simplex virus (HSV) each contain virus DNA. A comparison of the kinetics of reassociation of 3H-labeled HSV DNA in the presence and absence of either clone 139 (HSV-1 transformed) or clone 207 (HSV-2 transformed) DNA showed that the presence of transformed cell DNA increased the rate of reassociation of approximately 10% of the viral genome while having no effect on the remaining 90%. The Cot1/2 of this reaction was approximately 1,000 in each cell type, as compared to approximately 3,000 for the cellular unique sequences. These results suggest the presence of four to six copies of a 10% fragment of the virus DNA per cell. The DNA from a hamster fibroblast cell line morphologically transformed by UV-irradiated HSV-2 (333-8-9) did not affect the rate of reassociation of HSV-2 DNA, indicating that these cells had less than 3% of a viral genome present.

LMTK-cells infected with u.v.-irradiated herpes simplex virus type 1 have been selected for the presence of the enzyme thymidine kinase. These cells have an altered morphology compared to the control cells and contain herpes-specific antigens in their cytoplasm. The thymidine kinase activity present in these cells has been shown, on the basis of a number of biochemical properties, to be identical to the herpes virus specified deoxypyrimidine kinase found during lytic infection of this virus. In addition it has been possible to detect herpes simplex-specific RNA sequences in the transformed cells and this occurs in both the polyadenylated and non-polyadenylated cytoplasmic and nuclear fractions.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), type 2 (HSV-2), and simian virus 40 (SV40) fail to induce immunity in weanling Syrian hamsters to transplant of hamster cells transformed by HSV-2. However, the development of metastatic tumors is markedly enhanced by prior immunization with HSV-1. Immunization with SV40, ultraviolet-irradiated tumor cells, or ultraviolet-irradiated normal hamster embryo cells inhibits the development of metastases. The HSV-hamster system appears a good one for the study of development, prevention, and control of metastases by mammalian cells transformed by a common human virus.

An in vitro method which led to the transformation of hamster embryo fibroblasts after exposure to herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) inactivated with ultraviolet irradiation is described. The transformed cells (333-8-9) produced tumors when inoculated into newborn Syrian hamsters but not when injected into weanling Syrian hamsters of the same LSH inbred strain. However, after one in vivo passage, the 333-8-9 cells became highly oncogenic in weanling hamsters. No infectious virus was recovered from these cells. Herpes simplex virus antigens were detected in the transformed cells by the indirect immunofluorescence technique. Sera from tumor-bearing hamsters contained antibody with highly specific neutralizing activity against HSV-2. These studies indicate the continued involvement of the HSV-2 genome in an oncogenic cell line.

Hamster cells which transformed after exposure to herpes simplex virus type 2 previously irradiated with ultraviolet light were tested for the presence of hamster leukosis viruses or their virus-specific antigens. Three techniques that were used did not detect the presence of either hamster C-type particles or antigens commonly associated with such structures. The implication of these findings to current concepts of virus oncology is discussed.

The in vitro transformation of hamster embryo fibroblasts by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) after exposure of the virus to UV irradiation is described. Cell transformation was induced by 2 out of 12 strains of HSV-1 that were tested for transforming potential. Cells transformed by the KOS strain of HSV-1 were not oncogenic when injected into newborn Syrian hamsters. However, cells transformed by HSV-1 strain 14-012 induced tumors in 47% of the newborn hamsters injected. HSV-specific antigens were found in the cytoplasm of cells transformed by both virus strains. Sera from tumor-bearing hamsters contained HSV-1- and HSV-2-neutralizing antibodies as well as antibodies which reacted specifically with HSV antigens by the indirect immunofluorescence technique. Hamster oncornavirus antigens were not detected by immunofluorescence methods. These observations represent the first evidence of the oncogenic potential of HSV-1.