Induction of neuronal and tumor-related genes by adenovirus type 12 E1A.

Adenovirus type 12 (Ad12) E1A protein (E1A-12) contains a unique 20-amino-acid spacer region between the second and third conserved regions. Substitution of a single amino acid in the spacer is able to abrogate Ad12 tumorigenesis. To investigate the function of the spacer, microarray analysis was performed on cells transformed by tumorigenic and nontumorigenic Ad12s that differ only by one amino acid in the spacer.