Abstract
The requirements for transformation of rat embryo fibroblasts (REFs) by transfected ras and myc oncogenes were explored. Under conditions of dense monolayer culture, neither oncogene was able to transform REFs on its own. However, the introduction of a ras oncogene together with a selectable neomycin resistance marker into REFs allowed killing of the normal nontransfected cells and the outgrowth of colonies of ras transformants, 10% of which survived crisis and became tumorigenic. These cells expressed greater than 10-fold-higher levels of ras p21 than tumorigenic cells cotransfected with ras and myc oncogenes. The myc oncogene similarly was unable to induce tumorigenic conversion of REFs unless especially refractile colonies of oncogene-bearing cells, produced by use of a cotransfected selectable marker, were picked and subcultured. Tumorigenic conversion of REFs by single transfected oncogenes appears to require special culture conditions and high levels of gene expression.
Full text
PDF








Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Adams J. M., Gerondakis S., Webb E., Corcoran L. M., Cory S. Cellular myc oncogene is altered by chromosome translocation to an immunoglobulin locus in murine plasmacytomas and is rearranged similarly in human Burkitt lymphomas. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Apr;80(7):1982–1986. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.7.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Bishop J. M. Cellular oncogenes and retroviruses. Annu Rev Biochem. 1983;52:301–354. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.52.070183.001505. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Cepko C. L., Roberts B. E., Mulligan R. C. Construction and applications of a highly transmissible murine retrovirus shuttle vector. Cell. 1984 Jul;37(3):1053–1062. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90440-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Colby W. W., Chen E. Y., Smith D. H., Levinson A. D. Identification and nucleotide sequence of a human locus homologous to the v-myc oncogene of avian myelocytomatosis virus MC29. Nature. 1983 Feb 24;301(5902):722–725. doi: 10.1038/301722a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Dalla-Favera R., Gelmann E. P., Martinotti S., Franchini G., Papas T. S., Gallo R. C., Wong-Staal F. Cloning and characterization of different human sequences related to the onc gene (v-myc) of avian myelocytomatosis virus (MC29). Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Nov;79(21):6497–6501. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.21.6497. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Dalla-Favera R., Martinotti S., Gallo R. C., Erikson J., Croce C. M. Translocation and rearrangements of the c-myc oncogene locus in human undifferentiated B-cell lymphomas. Science. 1983 Feb 25;219(4587):963–967. doi: 10.1126/science.6401867. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Der C. J., Krontiris T. G., Cooper G. M. Transforming genes of human bladder and lung carcinoma cell lines are homologous to the ras genes of Harvey and Kirsten sarcoma viruses. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Jun;79(11):3637–3640. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.11.3637. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Eliyahu D., Raz A., Gruss P., Givol D., Oren M. Participation of p53 cellular tumour antigen in transformation of normal embryonic cells. Nature. 1984 Dec 13;312(5995):646–649. doi: 10.1038/312646a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Furth M. E., Davis L. J., Fleurdelys B., Scolnick E. M. Monoclonal antibodies to the p21 products of the transforming gene of Harvey murine sarcoma virus and of the cellular ras gene family. J Virol. 1982 Jul;43(1):294–304. doi: 10.1128/jvi.43.1.294-304.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Goldfarb M., Shimizu K., Perucho M., Wigler M. Isolation and preliminary characterization of a human transforming gene from T24 bladder carcinoma cells. Nature. 1982 Apr 1;296(5856):404–409. doi: 10.1038/296404a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Harbers K., Schnieke A., Stuhlmann H., Jähner D., Jaenisch R. DNA methylation and gene expression: endogenous retroviral genome becomes infectious after molecular cloning. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Dec;78(12):7609–7613. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.12.7609. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Houweling A., van den Elsen P. J., van der Eb A. J. Partial transformation of primary rat cells by the leftmost 4.5% fragment of adenovirus 5 DNA. Virology. 1980 Sep;105(2):537–550. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(80)90054-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jenkins J. R., Rudge K., Currie G. A. Cellular immortalization by a cDNA clone encoding the transformation-associated phosphoprotein p53. Nature. 1984 Dec 13;312(5995):651–654. doi: 10.1038/312651a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Laemmli U. K. Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4. Nature. 1970 Aug 15;227(5259):680–685. doi: 10.1038/227680a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Land H., Parada L. F., Weinberg R. A. Cellular oncogenes and multistep carcinogenesis. Science. 1983 Nov 18;222(4625):771–778. doi: 10.1126/science.6356358. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Land H., Parada L. F., Weinberg R. A. Tumorigenic conversion of primary embryo fibroblasts requires at least two cooperating oncogenes. Nature. 1983 Aug 18;304(5927):596–602. doi: 10.1038/304596a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Leder P., Battey J., Lenoir G., Moulding C., Murphy W., Potter H., Stewart T., Taub R. Translocations among antibody genes in human cancer. Science. 1983 Nov 18;222(4625):765–771. doi: 10.1126/science.6356357. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lee W. M., Schwab M., Westaway D., Varmus H. E. Augmented expression of normal c-myc is sufficient for cotransformation of rat embryo cells with a mutant ras gene. Mol Cell Biol. 1985 Dec;5(12):3345–3356. doi: 10.1128/mcb.5.12.3345. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Marcu K. B., Harris L. J., Stanton L. W., Erikson J., Watt R., Croce C. M. Transcriptionally active c-myc oncogene is contained within NIARD, a DNA sequence associated with chromosome translocations in B-cell neoplasia. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Jan;80(2):519–523. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.2.519. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Mathey-Prevot B., Hanafusa H., Kawai S. A cellular protein is immunologically crossreactive with and functionally homologous to the Fujinami sarcoma virus transforming protein. Cell. 1982 Apr;28(4):897–906. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(82)90069-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Mougneau E., Lemieux L., Rassoulzadegan M., Cuzin F. Biological activities of v-myc and rearranged c-myc oncogenes in rat fibroblast cells in culture. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Sep;81(18):5758–5762. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.18.5758. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Mulligan R. C., Berg P. Selection for animal cells that express the Escherichia coli gene coding for xanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Apr;78(4):2072–2076. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.4.2072. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Nishikura K., ar-Rushdi A., Erikson J., Watt R., Rovera G., Croce C. M. Differential expression of the normal and of the translocated human c-myc oncogenes in B cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Aug;80(15):4822–4826. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.15.4822. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Parada L. F., Land H., Weinberg R. A., Wolf D., Rotter V. Cooperation between gene encoding p53 tumour antigen and ras in cellular transformation. Nature. 1984 Dec 13;312(5995):649–651. doi: 10.1038/312649a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Parada L. F., Tabin C. J., Shih C., Weinberg R. A. Human EJ bladder carcinoma oncogene is homologue of Harvey sarcoma virus ras gene. Nature. 1982 Jun 10;297(5866):474–478. doi: 10.1038/297474a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Parada L. F., Weinberg R. A. Presence of a Kirsten murine sarcoma virus ras oncogene in cells transformed by 3-methylcholanthrene. Mol Cell Biol. 1983 Dec;3(12):2298–2301. doi: 10.1128/mcb.3.12.2298. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Quade K. Transformation of mammalian cells by avian myelocytomatosis virus and avian erythroblastosis virus. Virology. 1979 Oct 30;98(2):461–465. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(79)90569-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rabbitts T. H., Forster A., Hamlyn P., Baer R. Effect of somatic mutation within translocated c-myc genes in Burkitt's lymphoma. Nature. 1984 Jun 14;309(5969):592–597. doi: 10.1038/309592a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rassoulzadegan M., Cowie A., Carr A., Glaichenhaus N., Kamen R., Cuzin F. The roles of individual polyoma virus early proteins in oncogenic transformation. Nature. 1982 Dec 23;300(5894):713–718. doi: 10.1038/300713a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rassoulzadegan M., Naghashfar Z., Cowie A., Carr A., Grisoni M., Kamen R., Cuzin F. Expression of the large T protein of polyoma virus promotes the establishment in culture of "normal" rodent fibroblast cell lines. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Jul;80(14):4354–4358. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.14.4354. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Reddy E. P., Reynolds R. K., Santos E., Barbacid M. A point mutation is responsible for the acquisition of transforming properties by the T24 human bladder carcinoma oncogene. Nature. 1982 Nov 11;300(5888):149–152. doi: 10.1038/300149a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ruley H. E. Adenovirus early region 1A enables viral and cellular transforming genes to transform primary cells in culture. Nature. 1983 Aug 18;304(5927):602–606. doi: 10.1038/304602a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Schwab M., Varmus H. E., Bishop J. M. Human N-myc gene contributes to neoplastic transformation of mammalian cells in culture. Nature. 1985 Jul 11;316(6024):160–162. doi: 10.1038/316160a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Shen-Ong G. L., Keath E. J., Piccoli S. P., Cole M. D. Novel myc oncogene RNA from abortive immunoglobulin-gene recombination in mouse plasmacytomas. Cell. 1982 Dec;31(2 Pt 1):443–452. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(82)90137-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Shih C., Weinberg R. A. Isolation of a transforming sequence from a human bladder carcinoma cell line. Cell. 1982 May;29(1):161–169. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(82)90100-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Shimizu K., Goldfarb M., Perucho M., Wigler M. Isolation and preliminary characterization of the transforming gene of a human neuroblastoma cell line. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Jan;80(2):383–387. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.2.383. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Southern P. J., Berg P. Transformation of mammalian cells to antibiotic resistance with a bacterial gene under control of the SV40 early region promoter. J Mol Appl Genet. 1982;1(4):327–341. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Spandidos D. A., Wilkie N. M. Malignant transformation of early passage rodent cells by a single mutated human oncogene. Nature. 1984 Aug 9;310(5977):469–475. doi: 10.1038/310469a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Tabin C. J., Weinberg R. A. Analysis of viral and somatic activations of the cHa-ras gene. J Virol. 1985 Jan;53(1):260–265. doi: 10.1128/jvi.53.1.260-265.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Taparowsky E., Suard Y., Fasano O., Shimizu K., Goldfarb M., Wigler M. Activation of the T24 bladder carcinoma transforming gene is linked to a single amino acid change. Nature. 1982 Dec 23;300(5894):762–765. doi: 10.1038/300762a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Taub R., Kirsch I., Morton C., Lenoir G., Swan D., Tronick S., Aaronson S., Leder P. Translocation of the c-myc gene into the immunoglobulin heavy chain locus in human Burkitt lymphoma and murine plasmacytoma cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Dec;79(24):7837–7841. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.24.7837. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Varmus H. E. The molecular genetics of cellular oncogenes. Annu Rev Genet. 1984;18:553–612. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ge.18.120184.003005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Vennström B., Moscovici C., Goodman H. M., Bishop J. M. Molecular cloning of the avian myelocytomatosis virus genome and recovery of infectious virus by transfection of chicken cells. J Virol. 1981 Aug;39(2):625–631. doi: 10.1128/jvi.39.2.625-631.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Vieira J., Messing J. The pUC plasmids, an M13mp7-derived system for insertion mutagenesis and sequencing with synthetic universal primers. Gene. 1982 Oct;19(3):259–268. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(82)90015-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Yancopoulos G. D., Nisen P. D., Tesfaye A., Kohl N. E., Goldfarb M. P., Alt F. W. N-myc can cooperate with ras to transform normal cells in culture. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Aug;82(16):5455–5459. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.16.5455. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]