Rescue of a rat tropic rat hepatoma virus pseudotype Kirsten sarcoma virus by co-cultivation of hepatoma tissue culture cells with K-NRK cells.

A rat tropic rat hepatoma virus pseudotype Kirsten sarcoma virus has been rescued from a co-culture of rat hepatoma tissue culture cells, HTC-HI, with Kirsten murine sarcoma transformed non-producer rat kidney cells (K-NRK). The virus complex, RHHV-KiMSV, released from the co-culture exhibited cell transformation ability on normal rat kidney (NRK) cells and showed a restricted host range limited to rat embryo fibroblasts and other normal rat cell lines. Evidence derived from indirect immunofluorescence assays demonstrated the association of rat helper virus specific gs-I and gs-3 antigens with RHHV-KiMSV transformed cells. RHHVKiMSV is currently being cultured at a titre as high as 10(4) f.f.u./ml in tissue culture, and thus offering opportunity for biochemical studies of rat viruses.