Surface leukaemic antigen and malignancy of cells in mice infected with Mazurenko virus.

IT is well known that virus induced mice leukaemic cells carry a specific surface antigen, which can be detected by a cytotoxicity reaction or by immunofluorescent labelling1–3. We have studied the time of appearance of the specific antigen in cells of various organs and tissues of mice after inoculation with a leukaemia virus, and compared this with the time when malignant transformation becomes apparent. This cellular change can be detected with the aid of histocytological examination and by the ability of such cells to grow after transplantation.