L-myc cooperates with ras to transform primary rat embryo fibroblasts.

Recent molecular analysis has revealed that L-myc has several domains of extremely conserved amino acid sequence homology with c-myc and N-myc, suggesting similarity of function. We tested the biologic activity of L-myc by using an expression vector containing a cDNA clone coding for the major open reading frame in the 3.9-kilobase mRNA of L-myc under the control of a strong promoter (Moloney long terminal repeat) and found that L-myc complemented an activated ras gene in transforming primary rat embryo fibroblasts. However, the efficiency of transformation was 1 to 10% of that seen with the c-myc and simian virus 40 (SV40) controls. The L-myc/ras transformants initially grew more slowly than c-myc or SV40 transformants, but once established as continuous cell lines, they were indistinguishable from cell lines derived from c-myc/ras or SV40/ras transfectants as determined by morphology, soft-agar cloning, and tumorigenicity in nude mice.     

Tumor promoters and epidermal growth factor stimulate anchorage-independent growth of adenovirus-tranformed rat embryo cells.

Previous studies indicated that the potent tumor promoter 12--0--tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) enhances transformation of rat embryo cells (2 degrees RE) by a mutant of human Ad5 (H5ts125). This study examines the effect of TPA, its structural analogs and epidermal growth factor (EGF) on anchorage-independent growth of a cloned population of H5ts125-transformed 2 degrees RE cells (clone E11). Both TPA and EGF (approximately 10(-8) M) induced a 3--5 fold increase in agar cloning efficiency of E11 cells. In addition, macroscopic colonies appeared earlier and were larger and more diffuse. The TPA analogs phorbol--12,13--didecanoate (PDD) and ingenol--3,20--dibenzoate also enhanced growth in agar of E11 cells, whereas phorbol, 4 alpha PDD and 4--0--meTPA, which are inactive as tumor promoters, failed to enhance agar growth. In contrast to the results obtained with E11 cells, TPA, PDD or ingenol--3,20--bidenzoate failed to induce growth in agar of normal 2 degrees RE cells. Dexamethasone (10(-5)--10(-6) M), trans retinoic acid (10(-5)--10(-6) M) and the protease inhibitors leupeptin, antipain and elastatinol did not inhibit the ability of TPA to enhance the growth of E11 cells in agar. The TPA-enhanced anchorage independence was a stable property, since subclones of E11 cells isolated from TPA-agar plates had a higher agar cloning efficiency than the parental E11 cells when retested in the absence of TPA. This effect of TPA does not appear to reflect simple selection of a subpopulation of cells. When the parental E11 cells were first cloned in monolayer culture in the absence of TPA, all ten randomly picked clones showed enhanced growth in agar in the presence of TPA. In addition, prior growth of E11 cells in monolayer culture in the presence of TPA did not enhance their subsequent growth in agar. This system therefore provides an example in which TPA appears to enhance the acquisition of a stable cell property, and thus may be a useful model for studying mechanisms of tumor promotion and progression.     

Proton-HZE-particle sequential dual-beam exposures increase anchorage-independent growth frequencies in primary human fibroblasts

The radiation field in deep space contains high levels of high-energy protons and substantially lower levels of high-atomic-number, high-energy (HZE) particles. Calculations indicate that cellular nuclei of human space travelers will be hit during a 3-year Mars mission by approximately 400 protons and approximately 0.4 HZE particles. Thus most cells in astronauts will be hit by a proton(s) before being hit by an HZE particle. To investigate effects of dual ion irradiations on human cells, we irradiated primary human neonatal fibroblasts with protons (1 GeV/nucleon, 20 cGy) followed from 2.5 min to 48 h later by iron or titanium ions (1 GeV/nucleon, 20 cGy) and then measured clonogenic survival and frequency of anchorage-independent growth. This frequency depends on the interval between hydrogen- and iron-ion irradiation, with a critical window between 2.5 min and 1 h producing about three times more anchorage-independent colonies per survivor than expected from simple addition of the two ions separately. The hydrogen-titanium-ion dual-beam irradiation produced similar increases that persisted to approximately 6 h. At longer intervals, anchorage-independent growth frequencies were similar to those expected for additivity. However, irradiation of cells with either an iron or a titanium particle first followed by protons produced only additive levels.     

Behavior of myc and ras oncogenes in transformation of rat embryo fibroblasts.

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.     

Cooperation of p53 and polyoma virus middle T antigen in the transformation of primary rat embryo fibroblasts.

Cell transformation in vivo seems to be a multistep process. In in vitro studies certain combinations of two oncogenes, a cytoplasmic gene product together with a nuclear gene product, are sufficient to transform primary rodent cells. Polyoma virus large T antigen can immortalize and, in cooperation with polyoma virus middle T antigen, transform primary cells. On the other hand mutant mouse p53 can also immortalize and, in cooperation with an activated Ha-ras oncogene, transform primary cells. In the present study we analyzed whether mutant p53 can replace polyoma virus large T antigen in a cell transformation assay with polyoma virus middle T antigen. Transfection of mutant p53 alone resulted in a cell line which had retained the actin cable network, grew poorly in medium with low concentration of serum, and failed to grow in semisolid agar. Cotransfection of mutant p53 together with polyoma virus middle T led to cells which grew in medium containing low serum concentration, grew well in semisolid agar, and displayed an altered morphology with the tendency to overgrow the normal monolayer. By these criteria these cells were considered fully transformed. The rate of p53 synthesis was similar in both cell lines. However, only p53 from the transformed cell line turned out to be stable. Cells transformed by mutant p53 and polyoma virus middle T expressed nearly the same amount of the c-src-encoded pp60c-src protein as cells transformed by the same p53 and cotransfected activated Ha-ras oncogene. However, only the polyoma virus middle T/p53-transformed cells exhibited an elevated level of pp60c-src-specific tyrosine kinase activity. Thus, despite different mechanisms leading to cell transformation, mutant p53 can replace polyoma virus large T antigen and polyoma virus middle T can replace the activated Ha-ras oncogene in cell transformation.     

Differential response to retinoic acid of Syrian hamster embryo fibroblasts expressing v-src or v-Ha-ras oncogenes.

It has been shown that treatment of many but not all tumor cell lines with retinoids affects cell proliferation and expression of the transformed phenotype. To determine whether the response of the tumor cell to retinoids is influenced by specific oncogenes activated in the cell, we studied the action of these agents in the immortal, nontumorigenic Syrian hamster embryo cell lines DES-4 and 10W transfected with either v-Ha-ras or v-src oncogenes. In this paper we show that in transformed DES-4 cells expressing v-src, retinoic acid inhibited anchorage-independent growth, reduced saturation density, and inhibited the induction of ornithine decarboxylase by the phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate. In contrast, retinoic acid enhances the expression of the transformed phenotype in DES-4-derived cells that express v-Ha-ras. In these cells retinoic acid increases the number and the average size of colonies formed in soft agar. Moreover, retinoic acid enhances ornithine decarboxylase activity and acts in a synergistic fashion with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate. These results indicate that oncogenes activated in cells can indeed influence the response of cells to retinoids. Retinoic acid does not appear to alter the levels of pp60src or p21ras proteins in these cells, suggesting that retinoic acid does not affect the synthesis of these oncogene products. Furthermore, retinoic acid does not affect the protein kinase activity of pp60src. Transformed cell lines derived from 10W cells responded differently, indicating that the presence of a specific oncogene is not the only factor determining the response to retinoids. Possible mechanisms by which retinoic acid may interfere with the expression of the oncogene products are discussed.     

Analysis of autocrine growth regulators produced by chondrogenic fibroblasts of chick embryo sclera in protein-free primary cultures

Abstract. In the chick embryo there is a population of chondrogenic fibroblasts known as scleral fibroblasts. Scleral fibroblasts in primary culture secrete multiple autocrine growth-promoting factors, scleral autocrine factors (SAFs), into protein-free medium (Watanabe et al . 1989). One such factor, SAF-IIa, which is heat-labile and binds to heparin, shows strong DNA synthesis-promoting activity on the mouse fibroblast cell line, BALB/c 3T3 A31 cells and has a molecular weight of c . 16 kDa by gel filtration. These data suggest that SAF-IIa is related to growth factors of the FGF family. However, the effects of heparin augmentation on the growth-promoting activity suggest that SAF-IIa is not identical to aFGF or bFGF, when assayed on scleral fibroblasts and also on BALB/c 3T3 A31 cells. The other heat-labile autocrine growth-promoting factor, SAF-IIb, shows weak binding to heparin and no growth-promoting activity for BALB/c 3T3 A31 cells. The heat-resistant growth factor, SAF-I, is effective in enhancing the proliferation of BALB/c 3T3 cells, and its activity is increased by heat treatment. Whole-embryo fibroblasts, which show low autocrine growth in protein-free medium, produce mainly SAF-IIa-like growth-promoting activity and do not produce SAF-I. This indicates that the strong proliferative activity of scleral fibroblasts in vitro can be attributed to the production of a strong and stable autocrine factor, SAF-I, in the growing phase (Watanabe et al . 1989) and this is a specialized property of the chondrogenic cells of the sclera.     

Cellular aging is a critical determinant of primary cell resistance to v-src transformation.

Primary cell cultures are in general resistant to the transforming effect of a single oncogene, a finding considered consistent with the multistage theory of carcinogenesis. In the present studies, we examined whether cellular age, differentiation stage, and/or tissue origin of primary cells plays a role in determining their response to v-src transformation. To study the role of cellular age, rat mammary fibroblasts were isolated from a 50-day-old female rat and infected with a recombinant retrovirus carrying a v-src gene after 2, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days of continuous growth. To determine whether cellular differentiation is important, fibroblasts were isolated from embryos at 12 and 16 days of gestation, from newborns, and from a 30-day-old rat and similarly infected. Finally, the role of primary-cell histogenesis was assessed by infecting primary cultures of fibroblasts isolated from the mammary gland, dermis, and lungs of a mature rat. When compared to 3Y1 cells, all preparations of primary cultures exhibited considerable resistance to v-src transformation. However, whereas primary cells isolated from different tissues responded similarly to the transforming effect of the oncogene, major differences were observed when cells were transduced at different stages of their in vitro life span. v-src was capable of inducing formation of foci and growth in soft agar in early-passage cells but failed to do so in primary cultures infected after 14 days of continuous passaging. Similarly, both the number of foci and the number of colonies in soft agar decreased with tissue donor age. The differential response of young and senescing cells could not be explained by mutations in v-src provirus, by differences in functional v-src expression, or by growth stimulation or suppression via paracrine mechanisms. Furthermore, v-src cooperated with an immortalizing gene, like simian virus 40 large T, polyomavirus large T, E6 and E7 of human papillomavirus, or an activated p53 mutant, to induce anchorage-independent growth of primary cultures but failed to do so with cytoplasmic transforming genes, like v-abl, v-ras, or v-raf, which did not confer indefinite division potential. These studies indicate that cellular aging is a critical determinant of primary-cell resistance to v-src transformation. It is suggested that v-src requires a nuclear auxiliary function for transformation which is present in early-passage cells, particularly when these cells are derived from embryonic tissue, but is lost as cells approach replicative senescence. This auxiliary function is provided by nuclear oncogenes but not cytoplasmic transforming genes.     

Complementation by BCL2 and C-HA-RAS oncogenes in malignant transformation of rat embryo fibroblasts.

The BCL2 (B cell lymphoma/leukemia-2) and C-HA-RAS oncogenes encode membrane-associated proteins of 26 and 21 kilodaltons, respectively. Although RAS proteins have long been known for their ability to bind and hydrolyze GTP, recent investigations suggest that BCL2 encodes a novel GTP-binding protein (S. Haldar, C. Beatty, Y. Tsujimoto, and C. M. Croce, Nature [London] 342:195-198, 1989). Cotransfection of BCL2 and HA-RAS oncogenes resulted in morphological transformation of early-passage rodent fibroblasts, rendering these cells tumorigenic in animals and enabling them to grow in semisolid medium. In contrast, cotransfection of BCL2 with oncogenes that encode nuclear proteins (E1A and C-MYC) did not produce malignant transformation, whereas HA-RAS did complement with these genes. These findings suggest that proteins encoded by oncogenes such as BCL2 and HA-RAS, although having similar subcellular locations and perhaps similar biochemical properties, can regulate distinct complementary pathways involved in cellular transformation.     

Purification of an autocrine growth factor in conditioned medium obtained from primary cultures of scleral fibroblasts of the chick embryo

Scleral fibroblasts of the chick embryo were found to secrete autocrine growth factors. One of the factors was purified from conditioned medium collected from growing-phase cultures of these cells by DEAE-Sepharose column chromatography and following non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The specific activity was increased 1100-fold by this purification. The chromatographically purified growth factor was still active after incubation at 95 degrees C, at pH 10 or pH 3, or with glycosidase H, but inactive after incubation with dithiothreitol or trypsin. An active protein having a molecular weight of 32 kDa was found to be the major component of the final preparation.     

Platelet-derived growth factor or basic fibroblast growth factor induce anchorage-independent growth of human fibroblasts

Anchorage-independent growth, i.e., growth in semi-solid medium is considered a marker of cellular transformation of fibroblast cells. Diploid human fibroblasts ordinarily do not exhibit such growth but can grow transiently when medium contains high concentrations of fetal bovine serum. This suggests that some growth factor(s) in serum is responsible for anchorage-independent growth. Much work has been done to characterize the peptide growth factor requirements of various rodent fibroblast cells for anchorage-independent growth; however, the requirements of human fibroblasts are not known. To determine the peptide growth factor requirements of human fibroblasts for anchorage-independent growth, we used medium containing serum that had had its peptide growth factors inactivated. We found that either platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) or the basic form of fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) induced anchorage-independent growth. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) did not enhance the growth induced by PDGF, or did so only slightly. Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) decreased the growth induced by PDGF. EGF combined with TGF-beta induced colony formation in semi-solid medium at concentrations at which neither growth factor by itself was effective, but the combination was much less effective in stimulating anchorage-independent growth than PDGF or bFGF. This work showed that PDGF, or bFGF, or EGF combined with TGF-beta can stimulate anchorage-independent growth of nontransformed human fibroblasts. The results support the idea that cellular transformation may reduce or eliminate the need for exogenous PDGF or bFGF.     

Neoplastic transformation of normal and carcinogen-induced preneoplastic Syrian hamster embryo cells by the v-src oncogene.

The ability of cloned Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) DNA encoding the v-src oncogene to neoplastically transform normal, diploid Syrian hamster embryo (SHE) cells was examined. Transfection of RSV DNA into early passage SHE cells resulted in a low but significant number of tumors when treated cells were injected into nude mice. Tumors formed with a low frequency (two tumors out of ten sites injected) and only after a long latency period (14 weeks). In contrast to the normal SHE cells, several different carcinogen-induced preneoplastic immortal SHE cell lines were highly susceptible to transformation by the v-src oncogene to the neoplastic phenotype. Tumors formed with high efficiency and a short latency period (less than 3 weeks). Further studies were performed to determine the basis for the inefficient transformation of the normal SHE cells. NeoR clones isolated after cotransfection of SHE cells with pSV2-neo and RSV DNAs were neither morphologically altered nor immortal and did not contain detectable levels of the v-src gene product. These results suggest that neoplastic transformation by v-src DNA in the normal cells is initially suppressed. However, cells from a v-src-induced tumor expressed v-src RNA, and antibody to v-src protein precipitated from the tumor cells a 60,000-molecular-weight protein which displayed protein kinase activity. Karyotypic analyses confirmed that the tumor was derived from Syrian hamster cells and suggested that it was clonal in nature. These results indicate that the v-src oncogene was primarily responsible for neoplastic transformation of SHE cells. In contrast to the results with the v-src oncogene, our previous studies showed that v-Ha-ras oncogene alone is unable to induce neoplastic transformation of SHE cells. Furthermore, the v-myc oncogene was able to compliment v-Ha-ras to neoplastically transform SHE cells, while cotransfection with v-src plus v-myc did not increase the incidence of tumors.     

Activated Ha-ras can cooperate with defective simian virus 40 in the transformation of nonestablished rat embryo fibroblasts.

We studied the ability of activated Ha-ras to cooperate with simian virus 40 (SV40) in the transformation of nonestablished rat embryo fibroblasts. Cotransfection with Ha-ras greatly accelerated the rate of focus induction by wild-type SV40. Moreover, a series of transformation-defective SV40 mutants could be partially complemented by Ha-ras. This was true not only for mutants retaining an intact N-terminal immortalization-competent domain, but also for a nonkaryophilic SV40 mutant. In the latter case, all detectable T antigen was cytoplasmic, indicating that efficient transformation can be achieved through the interaction of two nonnuclear proteins. By employing cell lines derived with various SV40 mutants, it was determined that the ability to complex with p53 depends on the integrity of a relatively large region in the C-terminal half of large T. Finally, we report that nonkaryophilic SV40 large T forms a complex with the major heat shock protein HSP70, and we discuss its possible implications.     

Selective amplification of endothelin-stimulated inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate and calcium signaling by v-src transformation of rat-1 fibroblasts.

The effects of the expression of the protein tyrosine kinase pp60v-src on endothelin- and thrombin-stimulated inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (Ins(1,4,5)P3) production and calcium responses were investigated in Rat-1 fibroblasts. The ability of endothelin-1 to induce the accumulation of these second messengers was dramatically amplified by v-src transformation, with 6- and 3-fold enhancements of the peak Ins(1,4,5)P3 and peak calcium responses, respectively. In contrast, thrombin-dependent responses were slightly reduced following v-src transformation, demonstrating that the augmentation of endothelin-stimulated signal transduction is a selective effect. The magnitude of the stimulated accumulation of Ins(1,4,5)P3 presumably depends upon both the functional activation of phospholipase C to produce Ins(1,4,5)P3, and the activity of the enzymes that metabolize Ins(1,4,5)P3. Although the metabolism of Ins(1,4,5)P3 was strikingly altered by expression of pp60v-src, with a bias towards the production of higher inositol polyphosphates that is consistent with an activated Ins(1,4,5)P3 3-kinase, this change could not account for the marked increase in endothelin-stimulated signaling induced by v-src transformation. This suggests that an effect of pp60v-src is expressed at the level of the plasma membrane, through an interaction with one or more components in the receptor/guanine nucleotide binding protein (G protein)/phospholipase C system that transduces the endothelin signal into Ins(1,4,5)P3 production. Preparation of membranes from normal and v-src-transformed cells showed that, while there was no change in the number of high-affinity endothelin binding sites, the release of Ins(1,4,5)P3 in response to guanine nucleotides and endothelin-1 was significantly increased following v-src transformation. In contrast, the Ins(1,4,5)P3 responses to thrombin and high Ca2+ concentrations were unaffected by transformation. Thus the selective interactions within the G protein system that couples the endothelin receptor to phospholipase C are potential sites at which the v-src transformation process may act to amplify endothelin-dependent Ins(1,4,5)P3 production.     

Scleral fibroblasts of the chick embryo proliferate by an autocrine mechanism in protein-free primary cultures: Differential secretion of growth factors depending on the growth state

Scleral fibroblasts of the chick embryo in primary culture proliferated in a protein-free medium. Conditioned medium (CdM) from the culture contained plural growth-promoting factors, which were active to the same cell type. The activity of one of the growth-promoting factors (SAF-I) was heat-resistant and the rest (SAF-II) were heat-sensitive. SAF-I accumulated in the CdM only during the growing phase; on the other hand, SAF-II accumulated in the CdM during the stationary phase. SAF-I showed the same time course of DNA synthesis-promoting activity as human PDGF. However, the activity of the SAF-I was not neutralized by anti-human PDGF. On the other hand, a part of the SAF-II (SAF-II a) showed a strong affinity for heparin.