High-frequency cotransfer of the transformed phenotype and a tumor-specific transplantation antigen by DNA from the 3-methylcholanthrene-induced Meth A sarcoma of BALB/c mice.

We transformed BALB/3T3 mouse cells with cellular DNA extracted from the Meth A sarcoma, a 3-methylcholanthrene-induced tumor of BALB/c mice, and asked whether foci arising in the transfection possess the previously defined Meth A tumor-specific transplantation antigen (TSTA). Five of eight foci selected from one experiment possessed Meth A TSTA. DNA extracted from one of the five TSTA-positive clones was used in secondary rounds of transfection transformation. Four out of five foci tested from the secondary transfections possessed Meth A TSTA. These results suggest that in the Meth A sarcoma a transforming gene and a genetic determinant of TSTA are intimately related: they may be identical or very closely linked; alternatively, a particular transforming gene might induce the expression of a particular TSTA. Another possible explanation for these results is that the cotransfer of certain cellular genes by DNA transfection is considerably higher than predicted from the limited studies presently available.