Molecular mechanism of tumorigenesis in mice transgenic for the human T cell leukemia virus Tax gene

The infection by human T lymphotropic virus type I is associated with adult T cell leukemia and several inflammatory degenerative disorders, including tropical spastic paraparesis. To investigate the role of the Tax protein in the development of diseases linked to human T lymphotropic virus type I infection, we generated two lines of transgenic mice carrying the tax gene under the control of the viral promoter. The expression of the transgene was low in these mice and was restricted to the central nervous system and testis. Mice from both lines developed various types of tumors, including fibrosarcomas and adenocarcinomas. Tax was expressed at a high level in fibrosarcomas and in cell lines derived from these tumors. In tumor-derived cells, the expression of Tax led to an increased degradation of I kappa B alpha and I kappa B beta and caused stable nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-kappa B. This translocation was essential for cell proliferation, as shown by expressing a nondegradable form of I kappa B beta in these cells. Therefore, Tax-induced cell transformation in mice correlates with the degradation of I kappa B alpha and I kappa B beta and with the constitutive activation of NF-kappa B. (C) 1998 Academic Press.