Sarcoma Rejection in Mice Born of Mothers Actively Immunized Against Murine Leukemia Viruses

Summary

Transplantable sarcomas infected with Rauscher leukemia virus (RLV) were rejected by mice whose mothers were actively immunized with formalized preparations of RLV. Uninfected sarcomas were not rejected. The RLV-infected sarcomas were also rejected by mice whose mothers were actively immunized with Friend leukemia virus preparations, but not with extracts from AKR mouse lymphomas. Foster-nursing experiments indicated that protection could be transferred from mother to newborn through the milk. The protective effect of sera from immunized mice could also be demonstrated in an in vitro microcytotoxic test with an established cell culture infected with RLV as the target cell.