Human N-myc gene contributes to neoplastic transformation of mammalian cells in culture (original) (raw)

Nature volume 316, pages 160–162 (1985)Cite this article

Abstract

Proto-oncogenes represent a group of eukaryotic genes whose activated forms are implicated in the development of cancer (for reviews, see refs 1–3). We have recently identified a human gene, N-myc, that is distantly related to the proto-oncogene c-_myc_4. N-myc is expressed at abnormally high levels consequent to amplification in numerous human neuroblastoma cell lines and metastatic neuroblastoma tumours5,6. In addition, enhanced expression of N-myc, often a result of amplification, has been found in retinoblastoma cell lines and tumours (refs 5,7 and M.S., unpublished data) and in cell lines derived from small-cell carcinomas of the lung8. Here, we show that enhanced expression of N-myc subsequent to co-transfections of an N-myc expression vector and the mutant c-Ha-_ras_-1(EJ) (from the human bladder carcinoma cell line EJ) is a factor in tumorigenic conversion of secondary rat embryo cells. The transformed cells elicit tumours in athymic mice and isogeneic rats. The ability of N-myc to contribute to neoplastic transformation of cultured mammalian cells raises the possibility that enhanced expression consequent to amplification of N-myc may be a factor in the aetiology of human neuroblastoma.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The G. W. Hooper Foundation, University of California, School of Medicine, San Francisco, California, 94143, USA
    Manfred Schwab & J. Michael Bishop
  2. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, School of Medicine, San Francisco, California, 94143, USA
    Manfred Schwab, Harold E. Varmus & J. Michael Bishop

Authors

  1. Manfred Schwab
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  2. Harold E. Varmus
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  3. J. Michael Bishop
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Schwab, M., Varmus, H. & Bishop, J. Human N-myc gene contributes to neoplastic transformation of mammalian cells in culture.Nature 316, 160–162 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/316160a0

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