Losses of 3p, 11p, and 13q in EJ/ras-transformable simian virus 40-immortalized human uroepithelial cells

Five independent clones of Simian virus 40 (SV40)-immortalized human uroepithelial cells (CK/SV-HUC) were established after transfection of HUC cultures from the same tissue donor with plasmids encoding SV40 large T and small t antigen genes. Each CK/SV-HUC clone contained a unique SV40 integration site, and all expressed similar levels of SV40 mRNA. All five clones were nontumorigenic, but clones 2, 4, and 5 tumorigenically transformed after transfection at P19 with mutant EJ/ras and also spontaneously after 40 serial passages in vitro. In contrast, CK/SV-HUC clones 1 and 3 did not transform when either approach was used. These differences in transformability among CK/SV-HUC clones could not be predicted based on differences in SV40 gene expression nor on any in vitro growth property tested. In cytogenetic analyses, a transformable clone showed losses of three chromosome arms containing putative cancer suppressor gene regions, including 3p14----pter, 13q, and 11p, whereas the nontransformable clones showed none of these losses. Thus these data indicate that genetic losses on 3p, 11p, and 13q may contribute to tumorigenic transformation of SV40-immortalized human uroepithelial cells.