title: Effect of restoration of retinoblastoma gene function on the radiosensitivity of cells of human tumor cell lines.
abstract: To assess the role of expression of the retinoblastoma (RB) gene on the sensitivity of cells to the cytotoxic effects of ionizing radiation, we transfected a normal RB gene into cells of RB+ and RB- osteosarcoma cell lines and an RB- prostate carcinoma line and studied the radiosensitivity of the cells before and after transfection. Four transfected clones were isolated from the two RB- tumor cell lines that expressed the product of the transfected normal RB gene and contained no mutations in the pocket and C-terminal regions by sequencing. A small increase in radiosensitivity was observed in cell lines transfected with the pDOL plasmid vector alone, containing the neo gene and a long terminal repeat (LTR) promoter. However, no significant change in radiosensitivity occurred in transfected cells expressing the normal RB gene compared to controls transfected with an RB- plasmid. Based on this and other information, we conclude that RB gene function is not involved in the response of these human tumor cells to the cytotoxic effects of radiation.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Radiobiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Tsang
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Little
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000528:radiation effects; D016161:Genes, Retinoblastoma / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D012516:Osteosarcoma / Q000473:pathology; D011836:Radiation Tolerance; D014162:Transfection; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured