Nonrandom Cytogenetic Changes Accompany Malignant Progression in Clonal Lines of Abelson Virus-Infected Lymphocytes

Initially, lymphoid cells transformed by v-ab/ or BCR/ABL oncogenes are poorly oncogenic but progress to full transformation over time. Although expression of the oncogene is necessary to initiate and maintain transformation, other molecular mechanisms are thought to be required for full transformation. To determine whether tumor progression in ABL oncogene-transformed lymphoid cells has a genetic basis, we examined whether progression of the malignant phenotype of transformed clones correlates with particular cytogenetic abnormalities. A modified in vitro bone marrow transformation model was used to obtain clonal Abelson murine leukemia virus-transformed B lymphoid cells that were poorly oncogenic. Multiple subclones were then derived from each clone and maintained over a marrow-derived stromal cell line for several weeks. Over time, clonally related Abelson murine leukemia virus-transformed sub-