Serological and biological characterization of ecotropic MuLV expression in radiation-induced leukemias of mice

In the present studies, an attempt was made to examine the expression of MuLV (murine leukemia virus) after radiation by serological techniques as well as to examine the expression of MuLV antigens in thymic lymphomas to determine the influence of endogenous ecotropic viruses in pathogenesis. Although these results have demonstrated a lack of correlation between endogenous ecotropic viruses and radiation leukemia, they unfortunately do not shed any light on what the causative events or viruses might be. In many respects, the data suggest that radiation-induced leukemia in mice is comparable to 'spontaneous' leukemias in a variety of species including man for which there is no strong evidence for the involvement of C-type viruses. For this reason, the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms in radiation-induced leukemia in mice should be of particular importance as an extremely relevant experimental model of pathogenesis