Tumor-specific transplantation and surface antigen in cells transformed by the adenovirus 12 DNA fragments.

Adenovirus type 12 (Ad 12) tumor-specific transplantation antigen (TSTA) and the surface (S) antigen were examined using rat cells transformed with Ad 12 DNA and its fragments. WY3 (3Yl cells transformed with Ad 12 whole DNA), CYl (3Yl cells transformed with the EcoRI-C fragment of Ad 12 DNA), and GY cells (3Yl cells transformed with the HindIII-G fragment of Ad 12 DNA) contained TSTA and S antigen, but HY cells (3Y1 cells transformed with the BpaI-H fragment of Ad12 DNA) did not. These results suggest that TSTA and S antigens contain a protein(s) coded for by a portion of the transforming gene.