Transcription of Adenovirus Genes in Productively Infected and in Transformed Cells

Abstract

The human adenoviruses provide excellent systems for the study of viral gene transcription in cells replicating virus and in cells transformed* by virus infection. There are 31 human adenoviruses (types 1 to 31). They are the first human viruses shown to possess neoplastic properties (Trentin, Yabe, and Taylor, 1962; Huebner, Rowe, and Lane, 1962; Girardi, Hilleman, and Zwickey, 1964; Green, Piña, and Thornton, unpubl. data). These DNA viruses can (1) productively infect cultured human cells, resulting in the replication of about 105 virus particles per cell and the death of the cell and (2) transform rodent cells in culture and induce tumors in newborn animals. In cells productively infected with adenoviruses, viral DNA replication and viral messenger RNA (mRNA) transcription occur in the cell nucleus, and translation of viral mRNA occurs in cytoplasmic polyribosomes. In cells transformed by adenoviruses, viral mRNA is transcribed from multiple viral DNA copies present in...