title: Role of proto-oncogene c-Ki-ras amplification and overexpression in the malignancy of Y-1 adrenocortical tumor cells.
abstract: 1. The proto-oncogene c-Ki-ras has been reported by others to be amplified and overexpressed in malignant Y-1 mouse adrenal cells. However, the role of this amplification in the origin and/or maintenance of malignancy in these cells has not been established. This question is addressed here by comparing the Y-1 cell line with its normal revertants. 2. In Y-1 cells, amplified c-Ki-ras is found in either double minute (DM) or in homogeneously stained region (HSR) chromosomes. Elimination of HSR containing Y-1 marker chromosomes m1 and m2 was demonstrated in the normal revertants by cytogenetic analysis and in situ hybridization. Southern and Northern hybridization did not reveal amplification or expression of c-Ki-ras in the normal revertants. 3. In contrast with c-Ki-ras, the proto-oncogene c-fos was not amplified in either malignant or normal revertant adrenal cells. Only a 5.4 Kbp Eco R1 restriction fragment typical of the normal mouse genome was found. 4. Highly abundant poly A+ RNA homologous to viral sequences was detected in both Y-1 cells and the normal revertants using probes derived from the pFBJ-2 provirus. 5. Spontaneous retransformation of Y-1 normal revertants yielded anchorage-independent non-tumorigenic cells in which c-Ki-ras is neither amplified nor overexpressed. 6. We propose that c-Ki-ras overexpression by way of amplification is necessary for the malignancy displayed by the Y-1 cell line.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Armelin
mesh_terms: D000306:Adrenal Cortex Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D000818:Animals; D002461:Cell Line, Transformed; D002871:Chromosome Banding; D015342:DNA Probes; D005784:Gene Amplification; D007621:Karyotyping; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras); D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D015342:DNA Probes; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras)