til-1: a novel proviral insertion locus for Moloney murine leukaemia virus in lymphomas of CD2-myc transgenic mice

Abstract

Moloney murine leukaemia virus (MoMLV) markedly accelerates thymic lymphoma development in mice carrying a transgene in which the human c-myc gene is linked to the CD2 locus control region. To investigate the mechanism of synergy and identify the genes which collaborate with myc in these clonal tumours, we analysed the sites of MoMLV insertion. Analysis of known viral integration loci revealed only a small number of insertions at bmi-1, pim-1 and ahi-1. Further cloning and hybridization analysis revealed a new common integration locus, designated til-1, which was occupied in 25 out of 77 lymphomas examined, with evidence of multiple clonal insertions in some cases. Mapping relative to established chromosomal markers in interspecific backcross mice located til-1 to mouse chromosome 17, distal to pim-1 and tic-1. These results suggest that the til-1 locus may harbour a novel myc-collaborating gene which acts as a target for activation in T cell lymphomas