Inhibition of myogenic differentiation by fibroblast growth factor or type beta transforming growth factor does not require persistent c-myc expression

Skeletal muscle differentiation is accompanied by accumulation of the mRNA encoding the muscle isoenzyme of creatine kinase (MCK) and can be suppressed by serum components, fibroblast growth factor (FGF), or type beta transforming growth factor (TGF beta). Using the nonfusing myogenic cell line, BC3H1, the potential involvement of c-myc in growth factor-dependent inhibition of myogenesis was examined. Withdrawal of undifferentiated myoblasts from the cell cycle in medium with 0.5% serum was associated with a precipitous decline in expression of c-myc mRNA followed by induction of MCK mRNA. In 0.5% serum containing TGF beta, c-myc mRNA declined to a level identical to that in differentiated cells; however, MCK mRNA was not expressed. Exposure of quiescent differentiated cells to FGF or TGF beta caused disappearance of muscle-specific gene products and was accompanied by only transient low level induction of c-myc mRNA. These data indicate that persistent c-myc expression is not required for growth factor-mediated inhibition of myogenic differentiation.     

Differential regulation of the clusterin gene by Ha-ras and c-myc oncogenes and during apoptosis

Clusterin (ApoJ) is an extracellular glycoprotein expressed during processes of tissue differentiation and regression that involve programmed cell death (apoptosis). Increased clusterin expression has also been found in tumors, however, the mechanism underlying this induction is not known. Apoptotic processes in tumors could be responsible for clusterin gene activation. Alternatively, oncogenic mutations could modulate signal transduction, thereby inducing the gene. We examined the response of the rat clusterin gene to two oncogenes, Ha-ras and c-myc, in transfected Rat1 fibroblasts. While c-myc overexpression did not modify clusterin gene activity, the Ha-ras oncogene produced a seven to tenfold repression of clusterin mRNA; this down-regulation was also observed in the presence of c-myc. Since no induction of the clusterin gene was observed by the two oncogenes, we tested the alternative mechanism involving apoptosis. Growth factor withdrawal induced apoptosis, as shown by DNA degradation and micronuclei formation in the floating cells. Concomittantly we observed a three to tenfold increase in the amount of clusterin mRNA in the adhering cells of Rat1 and the c-myc transformed cell lines, and a weaker induction in the Ha-ras transformed cell line. On the basis of our results, we suggest that clusterin gene induction in the vital cells is produced by signaling molecules that are generated by the apoptotic cells. We conclude that apoptotic processes, not oncogenic mutations, are responsible for increased clusterin expression in tumors.     

受四环素调控的真核表达系统SK-Hep1细胞株的建立

建立稳定、高效表达外源基因的SK-Hep1细胞株,以便进一步研究基因的作用.首先将调控质粒pCDNA6/TR转染SK-Hep1细胞,经潮霉素筛选得到多个稳定单克隆.各个单克隆分别扩大培养后,转染pCDNA4/TO/lacZ质粒,再经过DOX(强力霉素)诱导表达,检测β-半乳糖苷酶(β-D galaetosidase,β-gal)活性,从而筛选出高诱导水平低背景表达的SK-Hep1 tet-on细胞株.最后,再将pCDNA4/TO/c-myc质粒转染进SK-Hep1 tet-on细胞株,进一步通过Western blotting检测该系统对下游基因的表达调控.成功建立了一株受DOX调控的高诱导水平低背景表达的细胞株SK-Hep1 tet-on 10#.     

siRNA抑制c—myc基因的表达对宫颈癌细胞增殖的影响

目的：利用siRNA（small interference RNA）技术研究C-myc基因的对宫颈癌HeLa细胞增殖的影响。方法：依据Promega公司在网上提供的设计软件,设计针对C-myc基因的siRNA,合成DNA模板,体外转录合成siRNA。通过阳离子聚合物jet—SITM—ENDO将合成的siRNA转染入HeLa细胞,以未转染细胞以及错义序列siRNA—scr转染细胞为对照。用细胞计数法检测siRNA对HeLa细胞增殖的影响。流式细胞法检测细胞周期及蛋白表达的变化,RT—PCR法比较转染前后C-myc mRNA表达水平的变化。结果：细胞计数法结果显示,转染24h后c-myc基因siRNA明显抑制MCF-7细胞增殖,转染48h后,抑制效率稳定。c-myc基因siRNA转染后能有效地抑制HeLa细胞的增殖,阻滞细胞周期于G0／G1期,siRNA转染组c-myc mRNA、蛋白的表达量明显低于空白对照组、错义序列组。结论：体外转录合成的siRNA可有效降低HeLa细胞c-myc基因的表达,抑制细胞增殖。     

Serum and fibroblast growth factor inhibit myogenic differentiation through a mechanism dependent on protein synthesis and independent of cell proliferation

Myogenesis is accompanied by the withdrawal of proliferating myoblasts from the cell cycle, their fusion to form myotubes, and the coordinate expression of a variety of muscle-specific gene products, such as the muscle isoenzyme of creatine kinase (MCK). In the present study we used the nonfusing muscle cell line, BC3H1, to examine the mechanisms involved in regulation of MCK mRNA expression. Proliferating BC3H1 cells, in media with 20% fetal calf serum, had undetectable levels of MCK mRNA. Exposure of undifferentiated cells to media containing 0.5% serum resulted in withdrawal of cells from the cell cycle and in a several hundred-fold increase in the steady state level of MCK mRNA. Induction of this muscle-specific mRNA could be rapidly reversed by exposure of quiescent differentiated cells to media containing either 20% serum or pituitary fibroblast growth factor. The decline in the steady state level of MCK mRNA following mitogenic stimulation was not dependent upon reentry of cells into the cell cycle, but it did require protein synthesis. Together, these data indicate that fibroblast growth factor can specifically inhibit muscle-specific gene expression through a mechanism independent of cell proliferation. The finding that MCK mRNA was down-regulated by a mechanism that required protein synthesis suggests that mitogen-inducible early gene products may be involved in regulation of muscle gene expression.     

Interleukin-6- and leukemia inhibitory factor-induced terminal differentiation of myeloid leukemia cells is blocked at an intermediate stage by constitutive c-myc.

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), two multifunctional cytokines, recently have been identified as physiological inducers of hematopoietic cell differentiation which also induce terminal differentiation and growth arrest of the myeloblastic leukemic M1 cell line. In this work, it is shown that c-myc exhibited a unique pattern of expression upon induction of M1 terminal differentiation by LIF or IL-6, with an early transient increase followed by a decrease to control levels by 12 h and no detectable c-myc mRNA by 1 day; in contrast, c-myb expression was rapidly suppressed, with no detectable c-myb mRNA by 12 h. Vectors containing the c-myc gene under control of the beta-actin gene promoter were transfected into M1 cells to obtain M1myc cell lines which constitutively synthesized c-myc. Deregulated and continued expression of c-myc blocked terminal differentiation induced by IL-6 or LIF at an intermediate stage in the progression from immature blasts to mature macrophages, precisely at the point in time when c-myc is normally suppressed, leading to intermediate-stage myeloid cells which continued to proliferate in the absence of c-myb expression.     

The oncogenic forms of N-ras or H-ras prevent skeletal myoblast differentiation.

Differentiation of skeletal muscle involves withdrawal of myoblasts from the cell cycle, fusion to form myotubes, and the coordinate expression of a variety of muscle-specific gene products. Fibroblast growth factor and type beta transforming growth factor specifically inhibit myogenesis; however, the transmembrane signaling pathways responsible for suppression of differentiation by these growth factors remain elusive. Because ras proteins have been implicated in the transduction of growth factor signals across the plasma membrane, we used DNA-mediated gene transfer to investigate the potential involvement of this family of regulatory proteins in the control of myogenesis. Transfection of the mouse skeletal muscle cell line C2 with the oncogenic forms of H-ras or N-ras completely suppressed both myoblast fusion and induction of the muscle-specific gene products nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and creatine kinase. Inhibition of differentiation by activated ras genes occurred at the level of muscle-specific mRNA accumulation. In contrast, proto-oncogenic forms of N-ras or H-ras had no apparent effects on the ability of C2 cells to differentiate. Myoblasts transfected with activated ras genes exhibited normal growth properties and ceased proliferating in the absence of mitogens, indicating that ras inhibited differentiation through a mechanism independent of cell proliferation. These results demonstrate that activated ras gene products mimic the inhibitory effects of fibroblast growth factor and type beta transforming growth factor on myogenic differentiation and suggest that each of these regulators of myogenesis may operate through a common intracellular pathway.     

A stably transfected c-myc cat hybrid gene is not regulated by serum in NIH3T3 cells

A plasmid containing the CAT (chloramphenicolacetyltransferase) gene fused to the 5' adjacent sequences and first exon of the human c-myc gene was stably transfected into NIH3T3 cells. Single cell clones were grown and CAT activity was measured after serum starvation and stimulation. CAT activity of the hybrid construct remained unchanged in serum-deprived and serum-stimulated cells. In contrast the steady-state RNA level of the endogenous mouse c-myc gene was strongly elevated upon serum stimulation. The bona fide usage of the human c-myc promoter P1/P2 in mouse cells carrying the hybrid gene was revealed by S1 analysis.     

Efficient retroviral transfer of a mouse c-myc construct into HL60

We introduced an LTR-driven mouse c-myc second and third exon, Tn5Neo gene construct into the inducible human leukemia line HL60 using an amphotropic retroviral vector system. Over 90% of the cells became neo-resistant and the transfected myc gene was transcribed in several neomycin resistant clones. Making use of the simultaneous presence of the different myc genes in the same cell, we compared expression of the corresponding mRNAs after differentiation and their decay mechanisms.     

A transfected L-myc gene can substitute for c-myc in blocking murine erythroleukemia differentiation.

We investigated the ability of the proto-oncogene L-myc to substitute for c-myc in blocking murine erythroleukemia differentiation. Murine erythroleukemia cells (line C19) were transfected with recombinant plasmids containing genomic and cDNA fragments of the L-myc gene driven by a Moloney murine leukemia virus long terminal repeat. Clones expressing constitutive high levels of L-myc failed to differentiate in response to the chemical inducer N,N'-hexamethylene bisacetamide (HMBA). The block to differentiation correlated with the level of L-myc expression. Furthermore, transfected clones grown in the presence of inducer for an extended period of time showed an increased level of L-myc expression. These results suggest that functional domains of the c-myc gene involved in differentiation are located in the discrete regions of homology between the c- and L-myc genes.     

c-myc down-regulates class I HLA expression in human melanomas

Expression of class I HLA antigen has been shown to be reduced in a number of human tumours. Here we show that in a panel of 11 melanoma cell lines with variable class I HLA expression an inverse correlation exists between the mRNA levels of c-myc and class I HLA. This suggests that high expression of the c-myc oncogene might inhibit the class I HLA expression. To test this hypothesis a melanoma cell line with a low c-myc and high class I HLA mRNA expression was transfected with a c-myc expression vector. All clones expressing the transfected c-myc gene show reduced class I HLA mRNA and beta 2-microglobulin mRNA expression. Reduced class I HLA mRNA levels result in a lowered class I protein expression on the cell surface. Treatment with gamma-interferon fully restores the class I HLA and beta 2-microglobulin expression in these cells. This effect is preceded by a transient decrease of the c-myc mRNA level. These results show that the class I HLA expression is modulated by the level of c-myc expression, thus opening up the possibility that high expression of this oncogene influences the interaction of melanoma cells with the immune system.