Activation of neu by missense point mutation in the transmembrane domain in schwannomas induced in C3H/HeNCr mice by transplacental exposure to N-nitrosoethylurea.
Transplacentally initiated schwannomas in mice and rats arise preferentially in the Gasserian ganglion of the trigeminal nerve and spinal root ganglia, while those of the Syrian golden hamster most commonly occur subcutaneously. Rat and hamster schwannomas almost invariably contain a mutationally activated neu oncogene. In rat schwannomas, the mutant allele predominates, while the relative abundance of mutant alleles is very low in hamster nerve tumors. We investigated whether neu is mutated in mouse schwannomas and whether the pattern and allelic ratio of the mutation resemble those for the hamster or the rat. Pregnant C3H/HeNCr mice received 0.4 micromol N-nitrosoethylurea/g body weight on day 19 of gestation. Ten trigeminal and one peripheral nerve schwannomas developed in 11 of the 201 offspring. Missense T --> A transversion mutations were detected in the neu transmembrane domain in eight of ten schwannomas analyzed, as determined by MnlI digestion of polymerase chain reaction products. The mutant allele was predominantly detected in two tumors and was abundant in six others. Transfection of eight out of ten mouse tumor DNAs into hamster cells yielded transformed foci; seven out of eight contained mutant mouse neu. Mouse schwannomas closely resembled those of rats both in the preferred anatomical site and in the mutant/wild-type neu allele ratios.
Buzard
G S
GS
Intramural Research Support Program, SAIC Frederick, Bldg. 538, National Cancer Institute-Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center, Frederick, MD 21702-1201, USA. buzardg@mail.ncifcrf.gov
Enomoto
T
T
Anderson
L M
LM
Perantoni
A O
AO
Devor
D E
DE
Rice
J M
JM
D016475:3T3 Cells; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D016466:CHO Cells; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics; D006224:Cricetinae; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005038:Ethylnitrosourea / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009442:Neurilemmoma / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D010920:Placenta / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D017354:Point Mutation; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D011247:Pregnancy; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014162:Transfection; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D005038:Ethylnitrosourea; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases