Chicken embryo cells transformed by the related avian sarcoma viruses PRC II and Fujinami sarcoma virus, or by the unrelated virus Y73, contain three phosphoproteins not observed in untransformed cells and increased levels of up to four other phosphoproteins. These same phosphoproteins are present in increased levels in cells transformed by Rous sarcoma virus, a virus which is apparently unrelated to the three aforementioned viruses. In all cases, the phosphoproteins contain phosphotyrosine and thus may be substrates for the tyrosine-specific protein kinases encoded by these viruses. In one case, the site(s) of tyrosine phosphorylation within the protein is the same for all four viruses. A homologous protein is also phosphorylated, at the same major site, in mouse 3T3 cells transformed by Rous sarcoma virus or by the further unrelated virus Abelson murine leukemia virus. A second phosphotyrosine-containing protein has been detected in both Rous sarcoma virus and Abelson murine leukemia virus-transformed 3T3 cells, but was absent from normal 3T3 cells and 3T3 cells transformed by various other viruses. We conclude that representatives of four apparently unrelated classes of transforming retroviruses all induce the phosphorylation of tyrosines present in the same set of cellular proteins.
High molecular weight RNAs from Rous sarcoma virus and Moloney murine leukemia virus contain two subunits.