Susceptibility of skin fibroblasts from patients with retinoblastoma to transformation by murine sarcoma virus.
Cultured skin fibroblasts from patients with retinoblastoma (RB) of different etiology have been studied for their susceptibility to transformation by murine sarcoma virus. The cells from patients with a deletion in chromosome 13 (13q-) and those from sporadic unilateral cases due to somatic mutation were as sensitive as normal cells. However, the cells from familial cases showed an extremely high sensitivity to transformation. Moreover, in familial cases the susceptibility was significantly higher in bilaterally affected patients than in unilateral cases. These findings suggest that the heritable RB gene is different from 13q- and its degree of expression is also manifest at the cellular level.
D002472:Cell Transformation, Viral; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005134:Eye Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012175:Retinoblastoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D009053:Sarcoma Viruses, Murine