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Lifespan extension of basal cell nevus syndrome fibroblasts by transfection with mouse pro or v‐ myc genes
Author(s) -
Shimada T.,
Dowjat W. K.,
Gindhart T. D.,
Lerman M. I.,
Colburn N. H.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.2910390518
Subject(s) - biology , transfection , tumor promotion , population , fibroblast , cancer research , cell , malignant transformation , epidermal growth factor , phenotype , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , immunology , cell culture , genetics , carcinogenesis , medicine , environmental health
Dermal fibroblasts from patients with the autosomal dominant cancer‐prone disease Basal Cell Nevus Syndrome (BCNS) exhibit a serum dependence, anchorage dependence and in vitro lifespan (about 20 population doublings or less) similar to those of fibroblasts from normal age‐, race‐ and sexmatched controls. Transfection with v‐ myc or with an activated mouse pro ‐1 gene (which specifies sensitivity to promotion of neoplastic transformation in JB6 mouse epidermal cells) specifically conferred partial immortality on the BCNS fibroblasts by substantially extending their population doubling levels by more than 19 population doublings. This suggests that either v‐ myc or pro ‐1 gene can cooperate with BCNS gene(s) to produce an extension of lifespan or partial immortality. However, the transfected BCNS fibroblasts that escaped senescence were anchorage‐dependent even after exposure to the tumor promoters 12‐O‐tetradecanoyl‐phorbol‐13‐acetate (TPA), epidermal growth factor (EGF) or plateletderived growth factor (PDGF). These observations indicate that BCNS fibroblasts differ from their normal counterparts in susceptibility to extended growth and may therefore be pre‐neoplastic. It is clear that they require more than an activated pro or myc gene for progression to the tumor cell phenotype.