Serum deprivation induces SV40 early promoter activity.

Proliferation and the expression of proliferation-associated genes are modulated by changing the serum concentration in the media of cultured cells. To determine if activity of the SV40 early promoter is modulated by serum, we examined the expression of SV40 early promoter driven marker genes in murine BALB/c 3T3T cells following serum deprivation or serum stimulation. SV40-promoter-regulated beta-galactosidase and chloramphenicol acetyl transferase genes were studied following either transient or stable transfection. The results show that serum deprivation of growing cells induces SV40 promoter activity while serum stimulation of quiescent G0 cells suppresses it. Kinetic analyses show a significant induction of the SV40 promoter activity during the first 2 days of serum deprivation which is maintained at a high level for 15 days. The induction of reporter gene expression by serum deprivation was selective for the SV40 early promoter because such an effect was not observed using the Rous sarcoma viral promoter. Nuclear run-off assays further show that the transcription controlled by the SV40 early promoter is approximately twofold greater in cells rendered quiescent by serum deprivation for 72 h than in growing cells cultured in medium containing serum. These results suggest that one reason SV40 T transformed cells commonly fail to undergo quiescence following serum deprivation is that the SV40 promoter is induced.