Trisomy of chromosome 9q: Specific chromosome change associated with tumorigenicity during the process of X‐ray‐induced neoplastic transformation in golden hamster embryo cells

We have reported that trisomy of chromosome 7 is commonly observed in anchorage-independent clones isolated from X-irradiated golden hamster embryo cells. All 10 clones derived from different irradiated populations showed tumorigenicity when 1 x 10(7) cells were injected s.c. into nude mice (BALB/c, nu/nu). From karyotypic analysis, we found that 8 of 10 cells showed trisomy of chromosome 9. One cell line had a translocation between chromosomes 9q and 19q and trisomy of chromosome 7. The other cell line contained trisomy of chromosome 9 and a translocation between chromosomes 7q and 8q. Using Southern blot analysis, we observed no amplification of v-myc, v-Ha-ras, v-Ki-ras or N-ras-related oncogenes. Furthermore, we could not detect either an increase in expression of v-myc- and v-Ha-ras-related genes or the activation of any oncogene, by the NIH 3T3 transfection assay. Our results suggest that trisomy of chromosome 7 is insufficient for the expression of tumorigenicity and that increased dosage of chromosome 9q may play an important role in the malignant progression of X-ray-induced neoplastic transformation.