Premium
Functional receptors for nerve growth factor on Ewing's sarcoma and Wilm's tumor cells
Author(s) -
Thomson Timothy M.,
Pellicer Angel,
Greene Lloyd A.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of cellular physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.529
H-Index - 174
eISSN - 1097-4652
pISSN - 0021-9541
DOI - 10.1002/jcp.1041410110
Subject(s) - nerve growth factor , receptor , sarcoma , cell culture , melanoma , biology , cancer research , cell , rna , endocrinology , medicine , microbiology and biotechnology , pathology , gene , biochemistry , genetics
Quantification of changes in levels of c‐ fos RNA was used as an indicator of the presence of functional responses to nerve growth factor in several human nonneuronal cell lines which have previously been shown to express high levels of NGF receptors. Four Ewing's sarcomas, one Wilm's tumor, and one melanoma were examined. Of these cell lines, the Ewing's sarcoma IARC‐EW1 showed greatly increased levels (10–20‐fold) of c‐ fos RNA after 1 hour of exposure to NGF. Except for the melanoma line, the other tumor lines exhibited small, but reproducible, elevation of c‐ fos RNA expression. In IARC‐EW1 cells, this induction was analyzed for kinetics, dose‐response, and suppression by selective inhibitors of NGF action. The results indicate that these cells bear high‐affinity receptors for NGF, which utilize signal pathways similar to NGF receptors on PC12 cells. Thus, we report new types of cells with functional responses to NGF and indicate that these may constitute a new model which will usefully complement those presently used for studying the mechanism of action of NGF.