Complex of simian virus 40 large-T antigen and host 53,000-molecular-weight protein in monkey cells

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Abstract
Mouse cells transformed by SV40 contain a complex of the virus-coded large-T antigen with a host 53,000 MW (53K) protein. Initial attempts to detect a similar complex in lytically infected cells were unsuccessful and it seemed that the complex might be peculiar to transformed or abortively transformed nonpermissive cells. Immunoprecipitation of [32P]phosphate-labeled extracts of SV40-infected CV-1 African green monkey kidney cells with antibodies specific for large-T or the 53K protein revealed that the large-T-53K protein complex was formed during lytic infection. Only a minor fraction of the large-T present was associated with 53K protein and large-T and the 53K host protein cosedimented during centrifugation through sucrose gradients. Monospecific sera and monoclonal antibodies were used to study the rate of synthesis and phosphorylation of the 53K protein during lytic infections. Infection of CV-1 cells with SV40 increased the rate of synthesis of the 53K protein 3-fold over that in mock-infected cells. At the same time, the rate of phosphorylation of the 53K protein increased > 30-fold compared with control cultures. Monkey cells transformed by UV-irradiated SV40 also contained the large-T.sbd.53K protein complex. The formation of the complex is thus not a peculiarity of SV40-transformed rodent cells, but is a common feature of SV40 infections.