Moloney virus (M-MuLV) leukemogenesis: Virus spread, antibody production and antigenic expression in neonatally virus-inoculated young mice

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Abstract
(A × C57BL) and (A × C57L)F1, hybrid mice were inoculated neonatally with M‐MuLV. Virus spread, antigenic expression and antibody production were followed during the preleukemic period. M‐MuLV was first detectable in the spleen and later in the thymus. Virus spread was faster and the level of viremia higher in A × C57L than in A × C57BL mice. Also, A × C57L mice had no or only low titers of virus neutralizing antibodies, whereas A × C57BL mice had high titers. Anti‐MCSA antibodies, reacting with the surface of syngeneic M‐MuLV‐induced lymphoma cells, were present in a minority of the mice, but disappeared ultimately in all mice. The two groups of mice differed with regard to the length of the preleukemic latency period. High virus load and a low level of virus neutralizing and anti‐MCSA antibodies were correlated with an earlier onset of leukemia.