Transactivation of the dopamine receptor 3 gene by a single provirus integration results in development of B-cell lymphoma in transgenic mice generated from retrovirally transduced embryonic stem cells

Abstract Gene transfer vectors based on retroviruses are commonly used in gene therapy applications because of their unique ability to integrate efficiently into host genomes. This ability also forms the basis of a transformation event that can be induced in transduced cells by transactivation of proto-oncogenes near the vector integration sites. Here, we report on the development of lymphoma in mice generated from embryonic stem cells transduced with an enhanced green fluorescent protein. The cells expressed B220, CD5, Mac1, and IgM on their surfaces and expressed transcription factors characteristic of B-cell lymphoma. Importantly, each mouse had a single copy of the provirus in its genome; the copy was integrated into the second intron of the dopamine receptor 3 (D3) gene, and high-level expression of D3 was detected only in the lymphoma cells. Ectopic expression of D3 in murine marrow cells resulted in preferential proliferation of cells at the pre–B-cell stage in response to a D3-specific agonist, but this proliferation was not observed in vivo. Cells cotransduced with D3 and Bcl-xL genes had a phenotype similar to that of lymphoma in vivo, suggesting that the leukemogenesis induced by retroviral integration required “second hit” mutations of additional genes.