The Apparent Transition of a Reovirus 3 Specific Antigen in Maurine Lymphoma 2731/L from an Antigenic to a Haptenic Form and the Intracellular Location of the Hapten in the Murine Lymphoma ∗

Summary

Cell fractionation studies on 2731/L lymphoma cells and the use of these for the production of antisera have shown that a reovirus 3 “antigen” present initially may have undergone a transition into a complex haptenic form during the course of successive transplantation passages. The complex hapten is fully antigenic for the rabbit and using this property, it has been shown to reside in light mitochondrial and microsomal fractions of the 2731/L lymphoma. It is suggested that the hapten is in fact associated with the polyribosomes/microsomes of the lymphoma. The results are discussed with respect to the viral etiology of Burkitt's lymphoma.