Immunopathology of B-cell lymphomas induced in C57BL/6 mice by dualtropic murine leukemia virus (MuLV)

Abstract

Combined clinicopathologic and immunomorphologic evidence is presented that would indicate that a murine leukemia virus (MuLV) with the dualtropic host range is capable of producing a clinically malignant lesion composed of immunoblasts and associated plasma cells in C57BL/6 mice. This process, morphologically diagnosed as an immunoblastic lymphoma of B cells using standard histopathologic criteria, was found to be distinctly polyclonal with regard to immunoglobulin (Ig) isotype when analyzed for both surface and cytoplasmic Ig. Further studies demonstrated that this clinicopathologically malignant, dualtropic MuLV-induced, polyclonal immunoblastic lymphoma of B cells in C57BL/6 mice was normal diploid and unable to be successfully transplanted to nonimmunosuppressed syngeneic recipients. Although all serum heavy and light chain components were found to be progressively elevated as the tumor load increased, the polyclonal increase in serum immunoglobulins was most pronounced for mu heavy and kappa light chains (ie, mu greater than gamma 2A greater than alpha greater than gamma 2B greater than gamma 1; kappa greater than lamba). The dissociation of clinicopathologic and biologic criteria for malignancy in the presently described dualtropic (RadLV) MuLV-induced B-cell lesion is sharply contrasted with the thymotropic (RadLV), MuLV-induced T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma in C57BL/6 mice. This process is also a clinicopathologically malignant lesion but, when one uses biologic criteria, is found to be distinctly monoclonal, aneuploid, and easily transplanted to nonimmunosuppressed syngeneic recipients. The close clinicopathologic and biologic similarities of the dualtropic MuLV-induced animal model to corresponding human B-cell lymphoproliferative diseases are stressed.