Collagen–Glucosyl Transferase in Fibroblasts transformed by Oncogenic Viruses

Abstract

SYNTHESIS of collagen—a principal product of fibroblasts—occurs in various cultured cells of fibroblastic and non-fibroblastic origin^1–5. When tested in conditions allowing the maximal rate of collagen formation, virustransformed cells of fibroblastic origin produce less collagen per unit of protein synthesized than the non-transformed cells from which they were derived⁴. Some cells of non-fibroblastic origin synthesize collagen at about 5 per cent of the rate characteristic of fibroblasts, while in others collagen synthesis is virtually absent⁵. Thus synthesis of collagen is decreased (a) in virus-transformed cells of fibroblastic origin and (b) in cells of non-fibroblastic origin.