EXPRESSION OF 2 HUMAN GROWTH-HORMONE GENES IN MONKEY CELLS INFECTED BY SIMIAN VIRUS-40 RECOMBINANTS

SV40 recombinants carrying 2 different human growth hormone (hGH) genes were constructed. Monkey kidney cells infected with these recombinants synthesize, process and secrete hGH. The product of gene 1, which has coding sequences identical to those of a cloned hGH complementary DNA, is indistinguishable from pituitary hGH by several criteria. The product of gene 2, which is predicted to encode a variant protein, is less immunoreactive than pituitary hGH but binds efficiently to hGH cell surface receptors. Gene 2 seems to have the potential to be expressed into a previously unidentified form of hGH. It may be possible to produce a mature hormone by gene transfer in eukaryotic cells and the SV40-monkey cell system may be useful for producing and characterizing secreted animal cell proteins.