Neoplastic transformation of neonatal mouse skin fibroblasts in culture after a single exposure to ultraviolet radiation in vivo.
An in vivo-in vitro system was employed for studying carcinogenesis by a single exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Neonatal C3H mice were exposed once to UV in vivo for various lengths of time, and cells from the dermis were isolated and cultured in vitro. The progression of these cells to the neoplastic state was monitored in vitro. The cells cultured from mice exposed to UV radiation exhibited morphological transformation, formed colonies in soft agar, and produced tumors when injected into syngeneic recipients. In contrast, cell cultures prepared from unirradiated mice did not show any of these characteristics. The cells cultured from mice exposed to higher doses of UV acquired the capacity to grow in soft agar at earlier passages than those cells obtained from mice exposed to lower doses of UV, suggesting a possible relationship between UV dose and rate of neoplastic progression. All the cell lines established from UV-irradiated mouse skin produced fibrosarcomas when transplanted into syngeneic recipients. There appeared to be a good correlation between anchorage-independent growth and tumorigenicity in vivo. Some of the cell lines established from UV-irradiated mice grew into tumors preferentially in immunosuppressed C3H mice compared with their growth in normal syngeneic recipients.
D000818:Animals; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000473:pathology / Q000528:radiation effects; D051379:Mice; D009381:Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced / Q000473:pathology*; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology*; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays / Q000009:adverse effects*