Induction of glutathione content in murine melanocytes after transformation with c-H-ras oncogene

Malignant melanoma tumors are inherently resistant to anticancer drugs, yet the mechanism of this resistance is not understood. B16 melanoma, a spontaneous tumor which arose in the C57BL/6 mouse; BL6 melanoma, a highly invasive variant; and Mel-ab melanocytes, isolated from C57BL/6 mouse skin, were examined for intracellular glutathione (GSH) content. GSH was higher in BL6 and B16 cells than in Mel-ab cells, with the highest concentration in BL6 cells. Since GSH is thought to be involved in the resistance of many cells, including melanoma, to cytotoxic drugs, we determined whether intracellular GSH content was altered during transformation of Mel-ab cells. After transfection with pHO6T1 plasmid DNA, containing an activated c-H-ras oncogene flanked by transcriptional enhancers, 1.3% of successfully transfected Mel-ab melanocytes formed distinct colonies in soft agar, compared to 0.2% of cells transfected with control pHO6 plasmid without H-ras. Approximately 53% of the pHO6T1-transfected colonies isolated from soft agar grew in 5% CO2 in the absence of phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate, a requirement for the extended growth of Mel-ab cells. Cells transfected with control pHO6 plasmid and non-transfected Mel-ab cells did not survive under these conditions. All of the isolated pHO6T1 transfected cells formed tumors when inoculated into C57BL/6 mice. Transformed cells had higher GSH content than non-transfected Mel-ab cells, whether expressed on a cellular or cell volume basis. Although the amount of oxidized glutathione was greater in the tumorigenic cells, this could not account for the overall increase in GSH. Neither glutathione S-transferase nor gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase activities were increased in the H-ras-transfected cells. Northern blot analysis confirmed H-ras-specific RNA in pHO6T1-transformed cells.