Selective inhibition of proliferation in v-abl- and bcr-abl-transformed cells by a nucleoside analog.

The nucleoside analog acyclovir (9-[2-hydroxy-ethoxy)methyl]guanine or acycloguanosine; ACV) inhibited the in vitro transformation of NIH 3T3 cells by Abelson murine leukemia virus and the proliferation of abl- and bcr-abl-transformed hemopoietic murine cell lines. This effect is selective since ACV at the same concentration had no effect on the src and Ha-ras transformation of NIH 3T3 cells or on the proliferation of hemopoietic cells transformed by those oncogenes. The inhibitory effect on proliferation of abl-transformed cells correlated with the extent of ACV triphosphate formation and incorporation into cellular DNA that was greater than that in normal or other oncogene-transformed cells. The increased ACV triphosphate formation might be due to a higher level of 5'-nucleotidase, the enzyme responsible for trace levels of ACV phosphorylation in uninfected cells.